THE BIRDWOLF FILES
by xoxxKit-Katxxox
Summary: THE UNKNOWN STORY OF THE CLASHING OF MAXIMUM RIDE AND TWILIGHT. RATED T FOR VIOLENCE.
1. Good Morning

**A/N: Hey this is my story. It takes place right after **_**STWAOES**_** and **_**Eclipse**_**. I love both of these series, so I will keep things pretty much correct. There are 3 oc's so yeah. P.S. there is one **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_** joke hidden in the story. I want to see how many of you find it. REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT IT IS! Thanks! xxox~Kit-Kat~xxox**

**Chapter One: Good Morning**

**Aiva POV**

Well, I could already tell that this was going to suck. I mean, any morning when you wake up in a dog crate is bound to suck, right? Right. Now, about myself, me and my friends: Karianne and Alyanna are experiments, much like the flock. We are all 98% human and 2% avian. Well, except for me. I have some of the freaky Quileute werewolf in me. I carry the gene because my mom's biological father had 24% Quileute blood, so it got passed through mom to me. Oh, joy. The freaky scientists here at the school just accelerated the process of my changing somehow, so now I'm the freakiest of the freaky. Yay.

I'm basically the leader of my small flock, just because I'm the best fighter, I'm the oldest, I'm the strongest and, truth be told, the smartest. They're smart, too, they just don't have the same survival skills as I do. And there's nothing wrong with it, I'm just more equipped to survive. I protect them, feed them, but unlike Maximum Ride, I do not nurture them like a mother. This is mostly because the both of them are only a few months younger than me.

A "scientist" came in, and I glared through the bars of my cage to the door. My glares scare my flock, so you can imagine how scary it is. "Wake up everything," he said in a sing-song voice. Note: every_thing,_ not every_one._ Jerk. Then he turned on the light and pressed a button. Electric shocks rippled through the bars of my cage and shocked me with twenty volts of electricity. I knew it was happening to my flock, so that was what I focused on so that the pain wouldn't enter my mind. I'd deal with that later. Anger sung in my veins as I had hoped it would at the thought of someone hurting my flock. The stupid jerk laughed and pressed the button one more time, holding it in longer, and pouring more anger into an already furious me. Not a good idea.

"Okay, we need the avian-human hybrids and the shape-shifting avian-human hybrid to come with us," a female scientist said, coming in behind the other one. More filed into the room behind her, along with a lot of Erasers.

I sighed, allowing myself to look defeated. Karianne and Alyanna followed suit. When they unlocked the doors, we climbed out and stood next to each other. Karianne, on my left looked around and pointed to six other figures that were getting out of cages. I turned to look and one of them growled, "What are you looking at?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "You, duh."

One of the Erasers growled at me and I smiled sweetly at him. "How are you today, ugly? Eat any good kibble for breakfast?" He made to hit me, but I ducked and he missed. "Fetch hasn't helped your aim, Rover." I said.

"Enough!" a whitecoat shouted. "Take them to the room and don't let them get away."

Another Eraser made to grab Karianne and Alyanna, but I stepped quickly between them. "We can all walk just fine, thanks."

The Eraser glared, but said nothing. I felt my ear twitch, telling me that there was motion somewhere in the room that I hadn't noticed. The others had climbed out of their cages and were staring at me in disbelief. I looked at one of the Erasers, expecting to see a person, but all I saw was a wolf. That was weird. Usually for transporting experiments they stayed un-morphed or half-morphed. This guy must be new.

He sent a wicked grin my way, but something told me it wasn't intended to be wicked, the sharp teeth just made it that way. I almost smiled back, but remembered that this was the enemy, and therefore, should not smile at him. So, instead, I glared harshly. His eyes flicked to the floor and then back at me. Odd. He must definitely be a new guy.

The Erasers led us to a room with four full size beds. I looked suspiciously at the whitecoats, but they didn't seem to notice. The Erasers shoved us into the room, not caring if they made us trip and fall over one another, and then one of the stupid whitecoats spoke again.

"This is your new room. It's got laser beams across the door, a twelve-digit security pass code, and you have to have identification to get in and out. The walls are steel and can be reinforced with electricity if the need arises. There are no windows, and the vents are too small for even a dog to fit through. We are testing how long you can survive with no food. When the first of you dies, we will bring the remainder of you back to your cages for more experiments. Goodbye now," he said. Then they all turned around and left.

Remember how I told you this day was going to suck? Okay, just making sure you remembered. I looked at the other flock that was in here. There were six of them. Two were fairly small, one was of medium size, and three were larger. I looked at mine. Two medium, one large. Okay, they got three beds, we got one. I slept on the floor.

"Okay, here's the bed order," I said to the others. "Your flock gets three beds, we get one. We fit two to a bed. Sound good?" I looked at them all, the scraggly bunch, daring any one of them to disagree.

"So where do you sleep?" Karianne said, doing the addition. I shrugged and said I'd sleep on the floor. My flock looked at me with protest spelled out on their faces, but I raised my eyebrows, daring them to do it. Karianne sighed and nodded, knowing there was no hope for argument. Alyanna fallowed her.

"Now, Does it sound good to you?" I asked the other ones again.

The one that seemed the leader of the other flock looked at me. "Yes, that seems fine. Who are you?"

"I'm Aiva. This is Karianne and Alyanna, my flock," I pointed to each member in turn. "Who are you?"

"I'm Max. Maximum Ride. This is Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. I'm guessing you are all bird-kids, too?" she asked, staring at me. I glanced at my flock. They were freaking out, probably thinking, 'THIS IS MAX! THIS IS MAX! HOORAY! HOORAY! THIS IS MAX!'

"Yeah. I know you. You're the one that thought she had the school and Itex and everything wiped out. I'm sorry to tell you, but you missed this branch. Hell, even getting rid of as much as you did was amazing. Unfortunately, this branch was headed by your father. He didn't fall apart when Itex did," I said.

Karianne and Alyanna were looking at them like saviors. "Are your wings really that dark, Fang?" Alyanna asked. He shrugged.

I sighed. "So, Max, if we're going to be living together for a while, at least until one of us dies, we may as well be friends." I extended my hand. "I won't hurt you or your flock if you don't hurt me or mine."

"Sounds like a friendship to me," she said, taking my hand. "Deal." We broke the handshake when the door opened again.

An Eraser came in, holding ten water bottles. "These are yours," he growled. He dropped them on the floor and growled, "These are all you get today, so use them wisely." He gave a twisted grin and was gone.

I picked one up and handed it to Max. She tossed it to Fang, and knelt down with me to pass them out. When we got done, we realized we had an extra. I handed it to her, and she pushed it right back at me. "You're sleeping on the floor," she explained, then got up. I looked down at the waters in my hands. I smirked, before taking a sip out of one of them. Sucky day, sucky day.

I sat on the bed that Karianne and Alyanna had claimed and they sat with me. I leaned my head back against the wall, my stomach already growling. Karianne came and sat with me, followed by Alyanna. I heard one of their stomachs growl, so I opened my eyes and called Max over. She came, but stopped a few feet in front of me, a mistrustful expression on her face. I pulled out three granola bars. I tossed her two. "Nice last meal, huh?"

She nodded. "Thanks," she muttered. She went over to her flock, handing the younger kids a granola bar, and walking over to Iggy and Fang to split theirs. I handed ours to Alyanna. She opened it and started to break it into three pieces.

"I want the littlest one," I told her. She nodded, but took the smallest for herself. We were like this with each other. Always calling the worst for ourselves, but it was really the one who was giving it out that took the worst. This was why I usually was the one to give stuff out. I take up for my flock. They don't take up for me.

"Well, this is a lovely good morning present," Iggy said. Karianne laughed nervously. I could see she was blushing. I half smiled. She had always admired Iggy from afar.

"Nudge your hair is a mess," I told her. She nodded.

"It always is. I can't ever brush it, and Max says that there isn't a point because we're always on the run so we don't need to look pretty," she said. I pulled a blue plastic hairbrush from my back pocket and went over to her.

"If you want, I can put it up for you," I said. She nodded excitedly. I helped her up from her sitting position and turned her so that I could reach her hair. I brushed on it for a good twenty minutes before I got all the tangles out. Then I parted it to the side and pulled it into pigtails that hung low over her ears. I then braided them and secured them with ponytail holders. It looked really pretty on her. "You look good," I told her.

"Thanks so much! I've always wanted someone to do my hair, but Angel's too little, and Max just isn't good at it, no offence Max. I like the way you did it do you think you can teach me? I really hope you can because I love to do hair. You know what else I love? I love blue dresses. Max says that they're impractical, but I don't really care because I think that they're gorgeous. Do you have a blue dress? I don't think that you'd be my size, even if you did have one. You know what? I think that when we get out of here, we should stay together because then it would be awesome to have a flock of nine. There's safety in numbers, or that's what Max always tells us at least. You know, Max says a lot of stuff that has to do with survival. I say the most though, because I'm a chatter box. I don't mean to be, I just am. Iggy says it's annoying. Do you think I'm annoying?" Nudge rambled.

"No, I don't think so. I think you're funny," I said. She smiled at me and twisted the end of her braid around her finger.

"Max, I'm out of water," the Gasman said.

"You shouldn't have drank it all so quickly. We don't have any more," she replied.

"You can have my other one. I've still got over half of mine," I said, holding it out to him. I didn't really. I was right at half of it, but that was okay. I'd be fine either way.

He thanked me and popped the cap off the bottle and took a small sip. He was a sweet, sweet kid. I walked over to where Nudge sat with Angel on the floor. Angel's hair was knotted and scruffy, too. I pulled out the hair brush and, with her consent, started brushing her hair. Hers was thinner, so it was easier to do than Nudge's. I braided hers into a French braid, and stood. Angel looked up and thanked me before going back to the game of tic-tac-toe that she and Nudge were drawing with their fingers on the floor.

Karianne sat on the bed, whispering to Alyanna. They were fine without me for now. I turned and walked over to Iggy, who was sitting with Gazzy, their faces turned toward something in Iggy's lap. Iggy was doing something that involved a pocket knife.

I sat on the other side of Iggy and asked, "What are you doing?"

"We're making a bomb. Don't tell Max," he said.

"Well of course not! That would ruin all the fun," I said. "You're about to cut the wrong wire by the way. That's the yellow one, and you need the green," I said.

"Oh, I knew that. Thanks," he said.

"Kari would love to help you," I said. "She doesn't know about explosives, but she'd love to help," I added.

"That would be cool," he said. So I called her over and told her to help Iggy and the Gasman.

After that, I walked over to where Fang sat on his laptop. "Hey," I said. He nodded his head once to acknowledge me. "What are you doing?" I asked. He shrugged one shoulder. "Blogging?" I asked him. He nodded. "That's cool," I said. He did nothing. "When you're finished, can I borrow your computer? I just need to check my e-mail and my blog. It won't take me long," I said.

He raised an eyebrow. "You have a blog?" I nodded.

"It isn't as popular as yours, but it's gaining hits every day. I don't really have a lot of people on my e-mail, but you know it doesn't really matter. My best friend in Washington likes to e-mail me. I try to keep in touch, but I haven't had access to a computer in almost a month. It's how long we've been stuck here. Sorry, I'm rambling. Can I borrow the laptop when you're done, or not?" I finished, feeling stupid. He shrugged and nodded. "Thanks," I said, and got up to go talk to Max.

She sat on her bed, looking very tired and strained. She had a far-off look on her face, so I decided to wait until she came back to the present to say something. After a couple minutes of me standing there, she sighed and closed her eyes. Rubbing her temples, she looked up at me. "Can I help you?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Can we talk?" I asked her. She raised her eyebrows. "About escape plans, I mean," I added quickly.

"Oh, sure, yeah," she said. "Here, sit down." I sat. "So, what were you thinking we should do?" she asked.

"I was thinking that the easiest thing to do would be to wait. They have to come in to give us water every morning, right? So, what we do, is when the one Eraser comes in, we grab his exit pass when we hand him the water. Then we simply wait until the cover of night, when there are fewer guards on duty, and we make a break for it. And, if we get caught, Iggy can have smoke and stink bombs ready to throw, with the possibility of an actual bomb being there, too, just in case. What were you thinking?" I asked.

She stared at me a moment. "Nothing nearly as good as that," she admitted. "I like it. We'll go with your plan." I nodded. "You tell your flock tonight, and I'll tell mine. We go through with it the day after tomorrow," she said. I nodded again and turned to leave when she asked, "Avia, what's your story? How did you get here?"

I sighed and turned back to her. She looked genuinely curious. I sighed and opened my mouth to speak.

**A/N: Well, there was my first chapter. If it sucked, please let me know. I'm an open reviewer, so if you don't have an account, you can still review my story. Plus, I would like to have a vote. Just a really simple, easy little review to tell me your answer. The question is this: Can an Eraser be good? Vote yes or no (that means that you can't say maybe). If you don't review, that's fine. I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy. :D**


	2. Several Surprises

**A/N: So, I updated. I only got a couple reviews, but the answer to the vote thingy was yes according to all of you people that reviewed my story. I was shocked at how many read it. I didn't think it would get that much. Anyway, so yeah. Here's the second chapter.**

**Chapter Two: Several Surprises**

**Aiva POV**

I sighed and said, "We got here after being kidnapped from our homes as fourteen-year-olds. We were here when you destroyed Itex and we've been here since. So, it's been about a month really. Like I told you earlier, you defeated most of it all, but not this one. This one was headed by your father, Batchelder. We had wings grafted onto us, but we've never been able to try them out. Karianne, Alyanna, and I have been stuck here, so we knew you before now. By reputation, anyway, and we were supposed to be weapons to kill you before your father vetoed the idea. Apparently he wants to use you as an heir for his twisted, sicko, scientist throne. Now, we have to get out. That's all of the story I'm going to tell you until we get out, okay? Okay."

She opened her mouth in protest, but I gave her a sharp look that said not to speak. Everyone had gathered around us, but I really didn't care. Then I looked at Fang and paused a second. His eyes were a deep, bottomless brown. Long eyelashes, and thickish black-brown eyebrows. His nose wasn't thin, but it was slender, and he had a firm mouth that turned down at the corners involuntarily. He looked like me… but more, he looked almost exactly like my… like my dad.

I realized that I was staring, my mouth open, but for once I didn't care. "What's your last name, Fang? Your real one?" I whispered.

He looked at me long and hard before answering. "I don't know," he said emotionlessly. "My first name is supposed to be Douglas." I nodded, biting my lip, thinking. He looked like my father. He had roughly the same eyes as me. I was supposed to have a twin brother, but he had died at birth… Or that's what the doctor told my parents. Was it even possible? Then I remembered. My mother had told me that my brother and I had the same birthmark on our stomachs near our naval. It was in the shape of a hand, about the size of my thumbnail.

"Lift up your shirt for a second," I said. He raised an eyebrow _the exact same way my dad used to_. The exact same way I still do. I yanked mine up to show my stomach and the birth mark. I pointed to where I knew it was. "Lift up your shirt," I repeated. Understanding flickered in his eyes, followed by slight amazement. He pulled up his shirt to just over his naval, and there I saw it. The twin birthmark. I stared at his and he stared at mine. The others just looked at us, eyes flicking between us. Fang met my eyes at the same time that I met his. I swallowed. "My grandfather and father were named Douglas," I said softly, dropping my shirt. "My twin that died at birth was supposed to have the same name. Doug—Fang, I mean—do you think…" I started, but couldn't finish. He nodded and dropped his shirt also. He stood and took a step towards me, staring hard at my eyes. I stared back and closed the distance so that we were standing about a foot apart.

"I have a sister," he said wonderingly. I nodded, feeling the amazement, too. I felt my eyes brim with tears, blurring my vision slightly. I blinked them back quickly.

"I have a brother," I said, almost choking on the words. He nodded also. I smiled and let it drop in a split second. He searched my face with his eyes as though he still didn't believe it. I was still having troubles with it myself. He exhaled a breath and I laughed. "All these years… you were alive. If mom and dad would have known… they'd have come after you. We thought you were dead, but… holy crap," I said, feeling stupider and stupider by the minute. He nodded, however. I held up my arms awkwardly for a hug, and he at least patted my back when I hugged him.

"Oh, how _touching_," an Eraser snarled, entering the room. "Birdie hugs."

"Being a bird-kid is only half of who I am. Need I remind you, Alex?" I growled, slightly letting my teeth show. He flinched minutely, but moved on as if he hadn't.

"I'm here to bring more water. Here you go," he said, handing everyone water and me an empty bottle. "Sorry, I must have gotten thirsty on the way here." I looked at it, then up at him, glaring a look to kill.

"It's okay, but I didn't know that they could graft pig DNA into you as well," I said and smiled sweetly. He glared unimpressively. I smirked.

"You just wait bird mutt," he said. "Your time is coming soon."

"I look forward to it," I said, jutting my chin out defiantly. By exposing my throat, I showed that I wasn't afraid. He turned and left, glaring back over his shoulder.

After turning back towards Fang, Max piped up. "You both know what this means, don't you?" I looked at her questioningly. She sighed. "It means we can't go through with the plan." I looked at the door, and then I remembered. It had all those laser beams across it. Not to mention the security code. Crap.

"Well, that changes things. Time for a new plan. Any volunteers?" I asked.

"We can blow the door up," Iggy said. "I enjoy blowing up doors. And just blowing up in general," he added as an afterthought.

"I think we need something a little more stealthy, Ig," Max said.

"I really think we should just wait and find out what the code is. When the Eraser comes, we stick to our old plan, but have the code memorized and throw the Eraser into the laser beams so that he gets shocked and temporarily fizzles them out. I would say they'd be down for roughly fifteen seconds while the system recovers. Plenty of time to get the door open," I said. Everyone turned to stare at me. "What?" I asked.

"How do you come up with this stuff so fast?" Iggy asked, breaking the silence.

"I just do," I answered. "After we get out of the room, you all follow me, I know the rest of the way out. If we get separated, get out as best you can and give the rest of us five minutes to get out before you fly away, okay?" They all nodded their consent. I turned to my flock. "After this, we head to Forks, Washington." They grinned hugely. That was far away from our prison, and pretty much the last place that anyone would think to look for us. I smiled briefly back at them. I was the leader. It was time to lead.

The next morning, around 6:17 A.M.:

I heard the door open. I shifted my head toward the door so that I could see through my eyelashes. It was my watch, and everyone else was asleep. At the door stood an Eraser. He was carrying a box, and he set it down in the middle of the room, about three feet from where I was laying, pretending to be asleep. He turned around and I sat bolt upright. "Can I help you with something?" I said, my words so soft a normal human being wouldn't have heard them.

He turned around so quickly I heard his neck pop. Ouch. He shook his head no and pointed to the box. He held his paw/hand up and pretended to write on it with an imaginary pencil, then pointed to the box again. I felt my brow furrow, but nodded, I'd humor this guy. I crept over toward the box, preparing for him to attack me. He didn't. Once at the box, I opened it to find food and a note. I picked the note up and read:

_Aiva and flock, Maximum and flock:_

_ This is a letter pertaining to where the food came from. This is also a note telling you how to get out of here. I am an Eraser—NOW HANG ON, HEAR ME OUT—named Reed. I know I was meant to be evil, to kill you, but that's not what I want in life. I want to help you, honestly and truly. I brought you food to eat before I break you out. On the back of this note is the security code and in the box you will find an ID card that is high rank enough to allow you escape. I will have shut down the laser beams across the door at 7:22 A.M. today. I will be waiting for you in the hawk cave near Lake Mead. There, I will have supplies for you in backpacks. Whether you take me with you or not will be left up to you; however, keep in mind that I may be useful to you. Remember, 7:22 A.M. sharp. Be ready._

_-Reed_

I looked up, expecting to find the Eraser still there, but I didn't. He had already left. I glanced at my watch. I had an hour and two minutes left before he shut down the lasers. I should wake the others, but I wasn't sure about this. So I woke Max and Fang, and those two alone. They awoke with a start, I pressed my finger to my lips to tell them that nothing was wrong and to be quiet. I pressed the letter into Max's hand and they both read it. When they were done, Fang looked up, eyebrows raised. Max was rereading it. When she finished, I mouthed, "Can we trust it?"

Max mouthed back, "I don't know." Fang just shrugged.

"Worth a shot?" I asked. Fang shrugged again, looking at Max. Max gave a jerk of the head as if to say, 'sure, why not? What could it hurt?' I showed them my watch. We had fifty-three minutes now. I gestured to our sleeping flocks. They both nodded.

I stood and went to wake my flock sisters. Fang went to wake up the boys, and Max to wake up the girls. After everyone was up and had their shoes on again, I passed out breakfast. We filled them in on the new plan and waited, judging their reactions. They were all willing to go for it, even though we weren't yet sure about this Eraser. My flock was completely ready. I reminded them of the key points on the body to take someone down.

Finally, after eating, drinking, and preparing, we were ready. Suddenly, the lights came on, and the lasers went off.

**A/N: I'm giving you a bit of a cliff hanger there, I'm sorry I couldn't help it. :D Once again, review and tell me if it sucks. I'm an open reviewer here people! YOU NEED NO ACCOUNT! Haha, sorry, I'm sick. Anyway, review if you want to. Again, if you don't review, that's fine. I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy. :D Twilight will come in either next chapter or the one after, not really sure yet.**


	3. Decisions, Decisions

**A/N: THANK YOU TO THE REVIEWERS! It is so nice to know that people like the story. I sit here alone and think about what to write, and I am suddenly inspired to do another chapter simply because of one person's review! Now, I know that not a whole lot of people like OC's in fanfics, but I'm glad that all of you gave this story a chance anyway. The OC's in it are modeled after actual people I know (Alyanna, Karianne, and Reed anyway), and I'm glad you like them! Anyway, on to the story!**

**Chapter Three: Decisions, Decisions**

**Aiva POV**

Here it was: 7:22 A. M. The lights had come on, the lasers had gone off, and I had punched in the code. Max scanned the security card and the door popped open with no resistance. I gently pushed open the door and checked for any guards or surveillance of any kind. There was none. It was almost too easy, so I led us all out and snuck down the halls that I knew all too well. I led them past the "weight room" which was a room where the pressed weights down on your body to see how much it could take before your bones snapped. Then we went past the "swimming room" where they tied weights to your ankles to see how long you could hold your breath under water before you went unconscious. The last room in the hall was the "bloodwork room", and I'm just not even going to go into that one. After we found ourselves at the end of the hallway, we took the first left, went down that hallway, took the second right, trotted lightly down the fourth right, then made the first left to what should have been an exit.

It wasn't though. Blocked by all the Erasers that it was, it could never be an exit. I turned to Iggy. "Do you have your bomb?" I asked him. He nodded. "Around the wall, and then a straight shot. Like a bowling alley." He nodded again, and then stepped to the edge of the wall, and threw the bomb. We all dove to our knees and covered our ears with our hands. I shielded my flock with my body as best I could. I felt some of the flying debris hit my back and my neck, but I didn't care. As soon as the last aftershock was through, I stood and barreled down the hall toward the Erasers. There were only around twenty left standing. Easy to take care of.

Without thinking, I launched myself at the nearest one, clapped my palms over his ears, and moved to the next one after he went down. The next one to come at me got a palm strike to the nose that shoved the cartilage back into his brain, killing him instantly. I sent a wicked kick to the next one's head and it snapped sideways, breaking his neck. The next one was simple, I grabbed his head, and snapped it in each of the four directions; right, left, backward, and forward. Then I simply yanked it upward, causing the breaks in his neck to crack the splintered bone even worse. The next one stupid enough to come after me got his ears popped, then yanked completely off of his head, so he would die. I tripped over his body and landed on my knees on the floor near another one who came at me. What I did next was probably considered dirty or unfair fighting, but I reached up and, instead of simply hitting him in the balls, I grabbed them and crushed them. After finishing with that sorry sap, I attacked the only Eraser that was left standing. After hopping on his back and breaking his eardrums, I rode the fall down, and used it to crush his face into the floor, driving his nose back into his head the way I had to the other one.

I stood, checking the surroundings for a second. I had taken out seven of the twenty that were there. That was over a third of them, not bad for a day's work. Then I assessed the flocks. Max was fine, but had a split lip. Iggy was okay, with an eye swelling shut. Angel and the Gasman weren't hurt at all because they hadn't fought. Fang was sporting bloody scratches on his face, but was otherwise fine. Nudge's wrist was hanging in an odd way from her arm, but that could be dealt with once we were out. Alyanna had sustained roughly three worrisome injuries, and Karianne was coughing blood, but what can I say? They're lovers, not fighters. Nothing that had come my way had touched me. We could all fly out of here. My brain took in all of this in a matter of half a second. I turned toward the door and yelled, "Move out!"

I counted members as I went. Gasman was first, Iggy second, Karianne third, Nudge fourth, Angel fifth, Fang sixth, Alyanna seventh, Max eighth, and me last. "Okay, pour the speed, guys. We're headed to Lake Mead and from there, Forks!" I told my flock. "Max, you and your flock are welcome to come with us. If you don't want to, keep in touch."

Max looked at Fang. He shrugged. She wheeled through the air up to her flock and asked them. She didn't get a vote that wanted to separate, so she agreed to stay with us. Fang seemed to be indifferent. I wondered briefly how I felt about that. I mean, he should care a lot because it was me and we were related, but I wasn't really all that upset over it. You could never tell what Fang was thinking. It was an annoying quality that we shared.

Flying through the sky, I still didn't feel free. Max always says that it makes her feel that way, but I've never felt it. I still feel trapped. I've just always been that way. I'm stuck in the hell that is my life and there's no fixing it. After losing my parents, my sister, my life, my friends (except for Alyanna and Karianne, who had been taken as I had), and my boyfriend; there just wasn't much left. I only hung around in the world to look after my flock and to keep them from meeting the same end as I had. They were still okay. They still had hope and they weren't happy, but they weren't depressed either. Not like me. My depression trapped me in my world. I couldn't look in a mirror, despite the fact that they are the only things that have never, ever lied to me (no matter how much I didn't like the truth). I couldn't fly and be free like everyone else. I couldn't even tell my flock my secret; for fear that they'd be too afraid of me to be near me anymore. My secret. I hated keeping it. It was like a taunting little reminder in the back of my mind that I wasn't even normal among the freaks. I was different. From everyone else in the world. From my flock. From my boyfriend. The one that I had left behind when I was kidnapped. He probably already had another girlfriend. He was a sweet guy, caring, respectful. I'd be surprised to find him without a girlfriend. Maybe he had loved me before all of this. Maybe he had cared more than anyone else. Maybe…

"Maybe I should stop dreaming of the past and move on," I thought out loud. Karianne looked at me.

"What did you say?" she yelled over the wind. I shook my head.

"Nothing," I called back. The ground below was disappearing into a lake. This was our stop. Max flew ahead of the group and landed in the cave first, scurrying out of the way so that the rest of us could land. After her was Fang, then Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Karianne, Alyanna, Iggy, and then finally me. As promised, Reed sat in the back of the cave with supplies ready and waiting. Iggy started tending to the wounds of his flock while I grabbed some stuff for Alyanna and Karianne. They were scraped and scratched and bloody and bruised. I pulled some gauze and wrapped Alyanna's upper arm, and then her opposite wrist, and then I taped some gauze to the wound on her collarbone. The three of us always treated wounds mutely, so as not to stir anyone's calmed mood. Otherwise we would just fill each other with the need for revenge. I handed Alyanna a pack of band aids to stick on herself, and looked at Karianne. She looked back at me over Iggy's shoulder. He was taking care of her, so there was no doubt in my mind that she'd recover completely. Reed had remained silent, and none of us had spoken to him yet, so I decided that I may as well be the first.

"Were you wounded in your escape?" I asked him.

"I acted as though I was going to patrol the grounds, then simply left," he said in his gravelly voice. He was still completely morphed; he didn't seem to see me when he wasn't, which made me wonder who he really was. He smiled at me, and I recognized him as the guy that I had thought was new the day we met Max's flock. I nodded.

"Why did you free us?" I asked him. There had to be an ulterior motive. None of them helped anyone without a reason that was going to help them in the end. There had to be something.

"I told you," he said. "I didn't want that life. I was supposed to be trained to kill you, hurt you. I can't. I don't want to, and I never wanted to. They tried to breed it into me, but it just didn't work. I don't see reason to harm someone that didn't harm me first." I narrowed my eyes. Was I supposed to believe that?

"So, why us then? Why not some other helpless experiment?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I figured you were the most likely to give me the benefit of the doubt. I mean, Ari was a blood thirsty killing machine, but Max let him in. I've never done anything to you, so I figured I had even better chances," he said. He looked honest. His eyes didn't flinch, there was no body language to tell me that he was lying. I looked at Angel. She nodded. He was telling the truth.

"I reserve judgment until a later date, until which time you may remain here. I reserve the right to kick you out at any time I deem necessary, and I reserve the right to kick your butt if you put a single toe out of line. You have the right to stay here until one of the above happens and you are also here on conditions, and these conditions are as follows: you don't get a watch, ever; you are to follow the orders of any superior member of either flock; you will not give any of these members problems of any kind, or you will answer to me; you do not prepare food; you do not go near our packs; you do not go where you are not told to go; and you will never disobey a direct order. Do you accept these terms?" I asked, feeling like I was giving him a sentence in a courtroom.

"Yes," he said, a toothy smile spreading across his face.

"Good. Then your first order is to go get firewood, and try not to be seen. Fang will accompany you," I said. Both of them nodded and were on their way. After they were gone I turned to Max. "Is this okay with you? I didn't really ask your opinion."

"Hey, what works works. Just don't get us all killed, and don't fill my role as leader or mother of my flock," she said, gazing over were the Gasman and Angel sat playing tic-tac-toe in the dirt. I smiled when Angel looked up at me.

"No worries there, I'm not their mother," and with that, I went to lie down. It had been a long day, and I was tired. I pulled my iPod out of my bag and set it on shuffle. I wouldn't sleep, at least not until the night. I listened to Indestructible by Disturbed, then to Away From the Sun by 3 Doors Down, then to so many other songs that I forgot the order. I sighed. Life was starting to catch up to me, and I didn't like it. I sat up and turned down my iPod. I needed to meditate. It kept me calm.

I didn't know how long it had been since they'd left, but the two men finally came back around midday. That was fine by me as long as they got back. I stood up, brushing the dirt off of my butt. Iggy was helping Karianne start the fire, and Max and Fang were getting hot dogs ready. Nudge was talking to Alyanna, and Gazzy and Angel were still playing. Reed was… sitting up against a wall doing absolutely nothing. His eyes were closed and his head was tilted back, so I guess he could have been resting or something, but it just didn't look like that. I got two hot dogs from Max and Fang, squirted ketchup only onto both of them, then went over and sat next to Reed.

"Hey," I said, sitting about a foot away from him. He looked up, but didn't say anything. I handed him one of the hot dogs. "Here, take one. I didn't poison it, I promise," I said. He took it and looked at it for a second before taking a bite.

He turned back to me. "Thanks. How did you know I only like ketchup?"

I shrugged. "I didn't. I just fixed them the way I like them. Want some music? Nature is kind of boring." I offered him one of my ear buds. He took it, and stuck it into his ear, which looked very odd, because he was still fully morphed. I shrugged it off though. It was much easier to be nice and let the information come to you then to force it. Forcing it created mistrust and grudges. I put the other headphone in my ear and put it on Me Against the World by Simple Plan. We sat there eating our hot dogs, well he ate his. I just nibbled on mine. I wasn't really all that hungry, so I just stared into the fire. Eventually, I spaced out.

He tapped me on the shoulder, and I looked up. "Can you change the song? I'm not really into this kind," he said. I reentered the universe and realized that I had hit the shuffle button and it was playing Wild Horses by Natasha Bedingfield. I nodded, and pressed the button that would allow me to pick the song. I put on Last Resort by Papa Roach, and then looked at him for approval. He nodded.

Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all. I mean, he hadn't tried to destroy everything and everyone that I cared about yet, so I guess he could be a good guy. _He could just as easily be a bad guy_, I reminded myself. So, not only was I reserving the judgment of the flock, but my own judgment as well. Okay, that was fine. We'd see what the future held.

**A/N: Well, I updated again. Reviews are welcome, and I can't wait to see what you have to say about our possible new addition. Will it be a repeat of what happened with Ari? Or will it be completely different? I must have at least three reviews before I write on! I mean, if you don't, I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy. But you should definitely put it on your to-do list if you want more chapters. Twilight in the next chapter, I promise! **


	4. BEWARE OF DEMON BIRDS

**A/N: Well, I didn't get all 3 reviews, but someone favorited me, and the explained quite clearly that they "NEVER do that", so I felt that it was enough. Plus the muse has struck me today! But truly, I thank that wonderful person who favorited me, and anyone else that has done so as well. This is the first story I've done, and it truly means a lot. :-) Now that all of the sappy crap is out of the way, I must put this in, I DO OWN AIVA, HER FLOCK, ANY OTHER OUTSIDE CHARACTER IN HERE, AND THE PLOT LINE. I do not, however, own Maximum Ride, its characters, or Twilight and its characters. NOW, I will finally get onto the story. (P.S. does anyone even read this stuff?)**

**Chapter Four: BEWARE OF DEMON BIRDS**

**Aiva POV**

Well, this was this. We were flying, with Reed, to Forks, Washington. Reed had wings because he was one of those Eraser "models". I hate using that word to describe people. It's like " Version 6.7". Yuck. Anyway, so we were flying. Reed was with us. He hadn't hurt anyone in their sleep or anyone in general for that matter, so I guessed we could take him. I still didn't trust him, but as long as we could make it work for now. Trust would come when he showed me he was trustworthy. I'm just funny like that.

After flying for hours lost in thought, I felt compelled to listen to my iPod. It would give my tired, confused brain a rest. Believe me, my brain needed it. I worked it way too hard, the poor thing. I always had. Back before, when I was normal, I had had perfect grades. I'm serious. My report card never had anything below a 96% in any class. Ever. That was that. My final grade in algebra was a 100, and my final for that grading period was a 101. My brain needed its rest. It deserved it. So I stuck the earbuds in and pushed the volume up button until I couldn't hear anything else over it. I felt like singing along. So I poured it all out. Everything. My emotions always came out in song. I'd always been that way. I'd done band since fifth grade, vocals since I was two years old, and I had been in marching and concert band before I was kidnapped, and I was also in the advanced chorus. I had endless music at my fingertips as well.

So I was singing along to Playing God by Paramore, just softly to myself, so as not to be heard, when out of nowhere a bird flew smack into Nudge's face. She had been rambling on to Alyanna about God knew what, and she hadn't been paying attention. I did what was natural, I laughed my butt off. She spluttered and screamed and caught herself after falling several feet, but it just made me laugh harder. Max was laughing and trying to make sure Nudge was okay, and Fang was grinning. Iggy and Karianne were dying of laughter, and Angel was trying so hard not to laugh I felt sorry for her. Alyanna was hysterical, the Gasman let loose with every gasp of air. Reed was laughing, but trying not to be heard. After everyone had stopped laughing, Nudge said, "You know, it really wasn't all that funny." That got us all going again.

After all of the hysterics were over, we continued to fly, but Gazzy admitted to having to use the bathroom, so we had to stop. We landed at a gas station that had a Subway in it, and decided to eat also. Max, however, pointed out that we had no money. I, in turn, pointed out that I had a credit card, brought to us by the Eraser's wallet that I had stolen back in the School. "The ID says his name was Lupine K. Nine," I said. "How very original of him."

Max nodded. "As long as the signature works with that card, I'm okay with his less than unique name."

After everyone had eaten their foot long sub(s), we left again. As we were flying, I turned to Reed. "How do you guys get your names? Are they like, given out to you or do you get to pick them yourselves?" He looked uncomfortable for a moment, and then he scratched his head.

"We usually just decide what we want to be called. The whitecoats just call us by our number in line or point at us and call us 'you'. It's really kind of annoying, but it's better than not having a name at all," he said. I felt for the guy. I'd had my name all my life. From birth up until now, my name had always been Aiva Mariey (my middle name was pronounced like Marie). The last name isn't important. I don't use it anymore. I've fashioned a new one, but I haven't put it to use yet. I was thinking something from a favorite book series of mine, _Harry Potter_. I was thinking that Tonks would be a good last name for me. Aiva Mariey Tonks sounded nice. I would use it.

"I guess that's true," I said, still listening to my iPod. It was a good thing I was good at reading lips, or I wouldn't have had a clue what he was saying. That would have sucked majorly. As it was, it was still taking me a split second to reply.

He nodded. "Yeah, it does make it suck a little less when you have a name to yourself. You aren't just one of the crowd, you're an individual. You're unique." I looked at him. Maybe that was why he had wanted to help us. If his story was true, that is. He had never morphed back, and it was starting to worry me. Maybe he wasn't who he said he was.

I turned away from him, ending the conversation. I hadn't meant for it to be rude, but if it was, he'd just have to deal with it. I'm not rude on purpose, but I'm not a polite little princess, either. I'm me. If you don't like it, then leave. It was that simple. I let my mind wander to pass the time.

**4.57 Hours From Takeoff**

We were finally flying over Forks, Washington, headed for a hotel. Sleeping arrangements were yet to be made, but I figured it would be four to a room, with two double beds in every room. Hopefully. If that didn't work, then it was two to a room with two twin beds in each room, or a full size, depending on. When we touched down outside the Motel 6, we tucked our wings in and I adjusted my jacket so that it would cover them better, just to be safe. It was drizzling, so we hurried inside. After talking to Max for a brief minute on how she wanted the beds to be arranged, she said that we should get two rooms with three twin beds each and two rooms with two twin beds each. The boys in her flock would share a room of three, the girls in her flock would share a room of three, and my flock got the other two rooms, where I would put Karianne and Alyanna together, because I didn't want a dangerous Eraser rooming with either of them.

I walked up to the counter and rang the little bell thing, since no one was there. Within a few moments, a guy about a year older than me came in. "Hey, I'm Eric," he said in a bored tone, not even looking at me. "I'll be your check-in assistant for this evening." He looked at me and his eyes widened. "I am the eyes and ears of Forks, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me," he added with a flirtatious smile.

I forced myself to smile politely, then pushed through by saying, "Elaine. Now, if you don't mind? We've had sort of a long day, and we really need to check in and head to bed," I said.

He looked at me oddly. "It's 12:30 in the afternoon," he said. I shrugged. "Okay," he said, still looking at me like I had grown an eleventh toe out of my forehead. I pushed my hair out of my face, gently skimming my forehead to make certain I hadn't. You could never be too careful when you're me. "How many rooms do you want?" he asked.

"I want two rooms that have three twin beds in them, and also two rooms with two twin beds in them," I said. He nodded and typed something on the computer. After doing so, he grabbed room keys and laid them on the desk in front of me. He asked me how I would like to pay, and I just handed him the credit card. He nodded and scanned the card.

"Do you want a bell boy to take your luggage to your room?" he asked. I shook my head. "Okay, and do you want to order room service for lunch?" I shook my head again. "Okay again. Your rooms are located right next to each other on the top floor. Rooms 117 through 120. Thank you and I hope you have a great day."

I thanked him quickly, grabbed the room keys and went to get both flocks and Reed. I wasn't sure where he fit in with everything yet, so I listed him separately. We took the stairs to the second floor, which was the top, and I led them to our rooms. I opened the first one, three twin beds. I handed the key card to Fang, and He, Iggy, and Gazzy went in. The next room was Max, Nudge, and Angel's. The room after was Karianne and Alyanna's. The final room was mine and Reed's. I walked in and dropped my stuff on the bed near the window. He remained standing at the door.

"Are you going to come into your room and set your stuff down or not?" I asked. He looked at me.

"I'm sharing with you?" he asked.

"Is that a problem?" I asked him. "I know I'm not the most desirable thing in the world, but…"

"No, that's not what I meant at all," he said quickly, cutting me off. "I just… well, I figured I'd be sharing with a guy. Usually that's how things are separated." I shrugged.

"Well, I'm not having any surgeries just to make you more comfortable, so you're going to have to get over it. As for the reason we're sharing a room? It's so that I can keep an eye on you. Why? Because I don't really trust you. No offence, of course, but you just don't trust an Eraser. It would be really stupid if I did." He shrugged, as if to say 'none taken'. Then he came in and dumped his stuff on the bed. He hadn't morphed back still, he had just pulled on a really thick hoodie to get by Eric, and now he pulled that hoddie off. "You know, Reed, you will eventually have to morph back." He shrugged again.

**A Nap and A Hershey's Chocolate Bar Later**

We had all gathered in Max, Nudge, and Angel's room for movies, but I didn't like this romantic comedy very much. It was too sappy for my taste. I much prefer actions and horrors. So, I volunteered to go to the store and get groceries. We needed snacks and food and medical supplies. I announced that I was going and almost every guy in the room volunteered to come with me. Fang didn't, because Max had fallen asleep, and she was currently using his shoulder as a pillow. If he moved he would wake her. I picked a group to go with me. Iggy and Karianne would come along. Iggy didn't really enjoy movies since he could only hear them, and Karianne didn't like this kind of movie anyway.

We left quickly, and walked to the store where we bought all of the basics: bread, various snack foods, hot dogs, granola bars, and chocolate. We were getting ready to leave when a tall, lean, copper-haired guy walked in. He looked so handsome, like he was cut out of Heaven's gold itself. His eyes were a brilliant topaz color, and I didn't like it. He smelled way too sweet; the scent of him clogged my airways, choking me. He was too good to be human. He wasn't. I knew it from the moment I saw his eyes meet mine with the same disgusted expression as if he had just smelled one of Gazzy's "talents" after he'd eaten Taco Bell. He was my enemy. I didn't know how, didn't know why, but I knew. He was staring me down, and I glared back. His eyes shifted away first, to the average-looking brown-haired human next to him. Human.

I turned toward Karianne and Iggy. "We have to go, now," I said. "Let's check out and get out." We sped through the check out. I handed the clerk the credit card and we jogged back to the hotel. I didn't look back until we were inside, but I saw another one of him walking the street on the other side of us. He noticed us, too, but I didn't care at the moment. When we passed him, I urged us into an all-out run. We had to get out of the streets. When we made it back to the girls' room, I slammed the door, and locked it. Then I slid back against the wall and choked:

"Danger, bad smell, beautiful, eyes, not human, _vampire_."

This met the room like a ton of bricks, as you can imagine. The newly awake Max asked, "What the heck are you talking about?" I shook my head repeatedly, half to clear it, half to say that I didn't know. I didn't know where the vampire statement had come from, but it seemed to be the right thing. I knew, down deep inside, that it was the truth. How could it not be, it was just so obvious. Was I crazy? No, I couldn't be. Crazy people don't know that they're crazy, so that ruled that out. Maybe I was right. I knew I was.

"We saw this guy at the store and she freaked out. She's probably just in shock from how absolutely _hot_ he was," Iggy said, mocking me. I glared at him.

"He wasn't hot, he was scary. He's a vampire. I saw another one in the street on our way back here. I'm not crazy!" I said as everyone started looking concerned. "I know that I sound crazy, but it's true. I don't know how I know, I just _do_. He's a fanged, dangerous, blood-sucking vampire, and he knew that we weren't human as well. I saw it. I know. He knows that much."

Everyone looked at each other as though questioning my sanity. Alyanna looked at me again and stated simply, "I believe you." Everyone turned to look at her as though she had lost her sanity. "Look, anything that scares Aiva is always an actual threat. She's not afraid of Erasers or whitecoats or anything at the School. If she's scared, then we need to take it seriously," she said. She walked over to me, helped me up, and then turned the TV off.

Max sighed. "Okay, Aiva. Tell us the whole story."

**A/N: So, this time I am actually waiting for 3 reviews. Seventy people have visited the story, three of you can scrounge up reviews. It makes me feel like it's worth it to write. If it doesn't happen, I don't write. Now if you don't like it and want to tell me so, send a review telling me what you don't like about it so that I can improve! If you're one of those people that don't ever review, that's alright, too. I promise I won't next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy. :D TWILIGHT HAS BEEN PUT IN! YAY! (Also, in relation to the disclaimer, I don't own any songs used/named in this lovely story.)**


	5. Letting Go

**A/N: Okay, I got five reviews, just last night (though one of them was from chapter 3), so I decided I would grace you all with an update. I couldn't say no. Still, over 85 people have read this thing, so there should be at least 3 reviews next chapter. See, I'm a good person, I'm not raising the stakes just because more people reviewed. But more than three reviews are still welcome? Lol, I had to. Anyway, thank you all, I love you all (as friends!), and here is chapter five.**

**Chapter Five: Letting Go**

**Aiva POV**

After I had finished the story, everyone seemed to be looking at me like I was crazy. I wasn't, I was just afraid of something that wasn't human. Or completely human, anyway. Now, why on earth did that sound hypocritical? Oh, right, because it was. Still, something about him felt…off. He wasn't safe, he was a danger. Reed, at least seemed to believe me. Karianne and Alyanna also seemed to. That was a given, though. We believed everything each other said. If Karianne said she saw a giant, mutant fishstick terrorizing Seattle, I would believe her. And find a _lot_ of tartar sauce.

"Aiva, honestly, I think you're overacting. I mean, of course we should keep our guard up, but I think you're just tired from the flight, and you got a little over paranoid and freaked out. I'm sorry, but I really think it was nothing," Max said, coming over to me and handing me a water. "Here, drink some of this, it might help the nerves.

"It wasn't just _nothing_, Max. I know that it was something. I felt it, and I wasn't just being overly paranoid. He was not human. What human looks like he did? And what about the other one? How do you explain him?" I asked, shoving the water away from me. "I don't want any water either, my nerves are fine."

"Well, maybe they were brothers. I mean, look at you and Fang. You look alike, in a way," Gazzy said.

"They weren't like that though. They had different everything. The only thing that even made them look a little alike was that neither of them looked human. That was it," I said.

"How were they different?" Max asked me.

"The first one had like a copper colored hair, the other's hair was really dark. The first guy was long and lean, the other, tall and built. They didn't look human, and both of them had golden eyes, how human is that?" I asked.

"I still think you were overreacting," Max said. She turned to everyone in general. "Who thinks it was nothing?" Gazzy, Nudge, Fang, Iggy, and Angel all raised their hands. "That's six votes. All in favor that it was something?" Alyanna, Karianne, and I raised our hands. "That's three. It was nothing," Max said.

"Reed didn't vote!" I protested. I looked at him. "What do you think?"

"He's not a member of either flock. His opinion shouldn't really count," Max said. 

"You know, he's a person and he's standing right here. He's traveling with us, he can fly, we've reserved judgment on him, and his opinion _does_ matter. Now, Reed, what do you think?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said, looking uncomfortable at all the eyes upon him. "I mean, I guess it could be nothing, because you were tired and all, but I'm with Alyanna, if it scares you, there's a good bet it should scare me too. I vote it was something," he finished.

"You're still outvoted, even with him. It was four to six. It was nothing," she said, irritated.

Oh, well. I didn't care what she said, Reed's opinion did matter. He might not technically be a member of either flock, but he was a person. He counted. She would have counted her mom's vote, or Ella's, but she wouldn't have counted Reed's if I hadn't been here. Why? Simply because he was an Eraser. He was part wolf. He was…like me. Human, bird, wolf; human, bird, wolf. It amounted to the same thing. The only difference was that Max didn't know I had wolf in me. It was bound to be a shock when she found out. And then what would happen? Would she cast my opinion out like she did to ? Probably. I decided that I just wouldn't tell her until later. It wasn't lying if I wasn't saying anything.

"Okay, then. It was nothing. I'm going to bed," I said. It was roughly six in the evening. "Good night, see you in the morning, blah, blah, blah," I said, hugging Nudge and Angel and dropping a kiss on the Gasman's head. It wasn't their fault that they'd been brainwashed to believe that everything that came out of Max's mouth was true. I would forgive them.

"No, I had something that I wanted to talk about, if at all possible," Iggy said. "I was thinking, it's a really small town, it might be worth our while to go to school for a while. You know, lie low. I'm sure that here, in the wettest place in the continental U.S. is the last place those weirdo whitecoats would look for us."

And, that's exactly when all heck broke loose. Nudge screamed something that sounded like "OhmgishysysYES!", Angel jumped up and said "YES!", Gazzy did a weird little dance singing "oh yeah, going to school it's a good thing oh yeah", and Karianne and Alyanna agreed in softer tones. Fang simply raised an eyebrow, I looked at Iggy like he had grown an extra four legs out of his ears, and Reed turned to me and said, "Are you serious?" over the din, everyone heard Max scream "NO!" and silence followed instantly. Nudge was, of course, the first to break it.

"Wha—What?" Nudge asked. "Max, but…" Max shook her head.

"The last time we tried school, it didn't turn out well," she said. "I mean, the principal guy was a freak from the School, and the classes were horrible. I just don't want to go through that again."

"Max, quit kidding yourself!" Iggy said. "You don't mean that it turned out badly for _us_, you mean it turned out badly for _you_. All because of Fang and Lissa, you never want to set foot in a school again. Max, we do! We all need a break. We all liked school."

"Yeah, just because you and Fang have all these issues that you refuse to work out, we can't go? That's not fair, Max!" Nudge chimed in. From Max, there was simply stunned silence. I broke it to say:

"Okay, all members of my flock, this seems to be a family discussion that we are not included in. When you've all decided, we'll be back. Come on, guys. Reed, you should get out of here as well." My flock and Reed were all too happy to accompany me back to our rooms, where I bade Alyanna and Kari good night, and waited until they shut their door and I heard the lock click to go into my room. I flopped down on the bed, but stood back up a second later to pull back a curtain and see the sky. It was 6:15. Not a bad time of night for a little fresh air. I opened the door to the balcony and took a few steps out before closing the door behind me. I pulled my iPod from my pocket and turned it on. Since there was no one around, I figured I could let myself out a little. I decided to sing along. Maybe it would help me clear my head. I hit the shuffle button and sang to the first song that came on. It was Wild Horses by Natasha Bedingfield. I belted it out, letting me hear myself over the too-loud music, feeling the truth of the words hit me.

"_I feel these four walls closing in  
Face up against the glass  
I'm looking out, hmmm  
Is this my life I'm wondering  
It happened so fast  
How do I turn this thing around  
Is this the bed I chose to make  
There's greener pastures I'm thinking about  
Hmm, wide open spaces far away  
All I want is the wind in my hair  
To face the fear but not feel scared  
wild horses I wanna be like you  
Throwing caution to the wind, I'll run free too  
Wish I could recklessly love like I'm longing to  
I wanna run with the wild horses  
Run with the wild horses, oh  
whoahh Yeah, oh oh, ye-yeah_"

At this point, I lost myself in the song, closing my eyes, I let the song wash into me, fill my veins, let myself feel the emotions of fear and hurt. I felt the pain. It was glorious to let go like this. I hadn't for so long. It was well needed.

"_I see the girl I wanna be  
Riding bare-back, care-free  
Along the shore  
If only that someone was me  
Jumping head-first, head-long  
Without a thought  
To act and damn the consequence  
How I wish it could be that easy  
But fear surrounds me like a fence  
I wanna break free  
All I want is the wind in my hair  
To face the fear, but not feel scared  
Oooh, wild horses I wanna be like you  
Throwing caution to the wind, I'll run free too  
Wish I could recklessly love like I'm longing to  
I wanna run with the wild horses  
Run with the wild horses, oh_"

I felt a tear escape from the corner of my eye, but I continued to sing, the slight break in my voice adding meaning.

"_I wanna run too.  
ohhh ohhh_"

Here, my voice laced itself with power. Letting my diaphragm convulse with the added air, I poured my soul out. It hurt. It was exhilarating. I pushed through. I couldn't remember the last time I had sung with such a force, such a hunger. It was more than I could stand, but I needed more. I hadn't let go like this ever in my life. The lyrics washed over me. I lost myself. I felt more tears escape. I was me, broken and haunted, scared and unsure. I was the song. The song was how I felt every day of my pathetic, mutated life. I carried it all the way out.

"_recklessly abandoning myself before you  
I wanna open up my heart tell him how I feel  
woah woah  
Wild horses I wanna be like you  
Throwing caution to the wind  
I'll run free too  
Wish I could recklessly love, like I'm longing too  
I wanna run with the wild horses,  
run with the wild horses, run with the wild horses  
ohh woah ohh woah  
Yeeaaaah  
I wanna run with the wild horses_"

As I finished, I ripped my headphones out of my ears and turned the iPod off. After doing so, I put it in my pocket and covered my face with my hands, letting my elbows rest on the banister. I could feel the tears crawling over my skin, but I didn't care, I let myself have the joy of feeling lost. I couldn't do it around Karianne and Alyanna. It was too weak of me.

"That was great," a voice said from somewhere behind me. My head snapped up. I ran my fists over my eyes and face, ashamed to have been found in this position, doing what I had been. After my face was dry, I turned to find Reed standing in front of me.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked him. My voice shook. I cleared my throat. This wasn't the time to look like I was weak. This wasn't the time to be weak in general. I couldn't believe I had let myself do that. It was awful of me. I had two people depending on me for survival, an enemy on the premises, and I was _crying_. Worse than that, I had been _singing_.

"Since halfway through the first chorus," he said, smiling. "It sounded great. Did you ever think about going pro?"

"Are you serious?" I asked. "Because that is truly the most ridiculous thing that anyone has ever said to me." He shrugged. "Why didn't you tell me you were standing there? Why not get my attention? Tap me on the shoulder or something? Why let me go on singing?" I was embarrassed. No, not embarrassed. I was mortified. I had poured out my soul in front of a stranger. It shouldn't have happened. I had to be more careful. More closed off. That was it. I'd start tonight. No more singing.

"Because it seemed like you were letting go of some of your issues. I didn't want to interrupt. I don't like to be rude," he said. I wasn't sure if the slight smile that played at the corners of his mouth were mocking, or just honest. I hated not knowing.

"Yeah, well don't ever do that again. Ever. I'm going to check on Aly and Kari. I'll be right back," I said harshly. As I moved past him, careful to avoid any touch at all, like he was carrying a contagious, life-threatening illness, I skirted around the beds, opened the door to go into the hallway, and found something that shocked me beyond belief.

There, in the hallway, were Max and Fang. Max's hands were knotted into Fang's hair, and his hands had slid around her back, locking her in place against him. They weren't kissing, but their foreheads were touching and they were both breathing raggedly. I cleared my throat. The jumped apart. "Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to see about the whole vote thing… I can come back later, if I need to," I said, trying hard not to smile. It was about danged time that they did this! I mean, gosh, they'd been looking at each other the entire time I had been around them, missing glances, dodging the idea…skipping beats. It was so obvious though.

"Um…we decided we're going to school," Max said, still out of breath. I smiled.

"Okay then. I'm going to go tell Aly and Kari. They'll want to know. I'll enrole us in school if you want. I've been through the whole business before," I said. "Fang," I said, noticing that he was brushing his fingers through his hair, trying to comb it back down. "Don't bother, bro. You're hair's just going to get messed up again when I close the door."

Max blushed. "Aiva? Can I ask a favor? Please don't, um…"

"Mention this to Iggy," I finished for her. "Don't worry, I won't. See you in a few." With that, I opened the door to Karianne and Alyanna's room to tell them the news.

**A/N: So, this was a kind of sucky chapter, because I just really am tired from doing marching band these past few days. Sorry if you don't like the song, but I felt to better understand the story, you needed to be able to see the world through Aiva's eyes a little bit. As for the Fax, you just have to deal with that, because I am a proud supporter. There are other couples that I like, too, so just you wait for the rest of them. I bet you won't guess what they are ever in your life. Okay, yeah that was a bit much. 3 reviews = 1 update. That is the price. Just a reminder, I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy. Until next time! (BTW, I DO NOT OWN THE LYRICS USED IN THIS FANFIC.)**


	6. Glass

**A/N: Okay, well it's been all of four days since I last updated. My excuse is that I have been with my friends and it's rude to type when you are with friends. Anyway, to get to the point, I am updating now. I thank everyone who reviewed, I got my three for this chapter. I also got like, two or three more favorites, not to mention reviews on other chapters. So, I thank you all. Now, last chapter was odd, I know, and it kind of sucked. I'm sorry, but it was needed, trust me. I don't see any more songs in the future of this story, but then I don't map out plots because I never follow them. For now, here is chapter six! Now clap and be happy, dang it!**

**Chapter Six: Glass**

**Aiva POV**

Here I was, telling my flock sisters everything that I had seen and heard. I was such a girl. They were squealing and laughing and jumping around. They were such girls, too. I didn't really mind though. It had been so long since we'd gotten to gossip and squeal and be totally and utterly ridiculous together. It was actually fun. Don't laugh. After poking my head around the door to make sure that they were out of the hallway, I made my way, with my flock of two plus me, into the hallway. Then we grabbed Reed out of our room, and headed down the hall to the room that the other flock was in. This took relatively no time. When we were all settled, we got to talking.

"School is amazing…or the classes and teachers are anyway. You'll all definitely like it," I said. Karianne and Alyanna snorted in unison.

"Don't lie to them! School sucks," Karianne said, glaring at me as if I had committed murder.

"No it doesn't! I liked school," I said. We were talking to the other flock about how school was. I had always liked it. Karianne and Alyanna, eh, not so much. They were both really smart, they just didn't apply themselves to it the way that I did.

"Oh, please. You only liked it because you were the teachers' favorite, had a bunch of friends, and were the smartest kid in the entire school," Karianne said.

"Really," Alyanna agreed. "Did you ever even make anything below a 95 on your report card?"

"No, and for the record, I never made a 95, either. But that's not the point. You don't have to be outstanding in academics to like school," I said.

"Nothing below a 96? Are you serious?" Max asked, amazed.

I nodded modestly. "I took a practice SAT, you know the things that get you into college, and got a 75 on that. Give or take a few points. But anyway, you really don't have to worry about anything. School's awesome. People warship new kids because they're gossip magnets for their boring lives. The work is really easy, and art and music classes are almost always fun. So, really, school is no biggie."

"Why don't I believe you?" Max asked. I shrugged. "I mean, honestly, just thinking about it gives me an anxiety headache." I noticed the sun was starting to set. Perfect. I had been waiting for forever. I stood.

"I'm going to go for a short flight. Maybe do some meditating when I get where I'm going," I said, already headed for the balcony. I was already out the door before anyone could protest, not like they would. I jumped up on the railing and closed my eyes. I spread my arms out and leaned forward until I was nearly parallel to the ground. Then I opened my wings and flew, feeling graceful. I lost myself in graceful loops and twists until I came to the ocean. A sign near it read "La Push Beach—No Lifeguard on Duty" which was fine by me. I could save myself. I landed in the parking lot and headed out onto the sand.

The ocean was still, unnaturally so, and fog had spread out over it. It looked smoke trying to penetrate smooth glass. It wasn't working. I loved the view though. It was misty glass fading into a deep sky, as the sun had set while I was flying. I sat down, just out of reach of the water and shook my jacket off my shoulders to reveal my black tank-top. The evening chill bit my skin, but I didn't really notice. I needed to lose myself, and this was where I was going to do it. I crossed my legs and straightened my back. My hands rested flat on my knees, palm up. I took a quick, deep breath, and then lapsed into my breathing exercises. I focused on just that, nothing else, and my mind instantly became sharper and keener. I felt the earth beneath me and willed it not to shift. I heard every sound in the woods, smelled every scent brought in on the sea air. It was so relaxing…it was almost a catatonic state. In fact, I could feel the air on my face…air that wasn't supposed to be there and didn't belong.

My eyes flew open and I jumped to a fighting stance before the person even landed. It was Reed, standing a few yards away from me. I dropped my fists to my sides, but remained tensed. He didn't seem to be threatening, but I wouldn't dare let my guard down. It wouldn't be me if I did. I'd be some poor defenseless pansy, but I'm not. That's not who I am.

"Hey," he said when he got closer to me. I just nodded in acknowledgement. "Max sent me after you. She said she didn't want anyone out alone." I nodded again. That made sense. I allowed myself to relax the tension a little, but was otherwise wound tighter than a spring. "So, uh, what are you doing out here anyway?" he asked me.

"Meditating. Why?" I asked. I didn't mean to sound rude, but I didn't want to hear the chatter in my own voice. It caused loss of focus. I needed my focus. He shrugged.

"Well, since I'm out here," he muttered. I looked at him.

"You want to meditate with me?" I asked. He shrugged one shoulder and then nodded. "Huh," I said, finding it odd that he did. "Okay. Come here, by the shore." He did so and I we sat down in unison. "Keep your back straight and your eyes closed." He mimicked my position. "Your chin needs to be parallel to the ground and your legs comfortably crossed," I said. He mimicked perfectly. "Your hand position is up to you. I like to think that your hand position is a way of helping you to focus on what you're trying to focus on. My two main ones are an open mind," I placed my open hands palm up on my knees again, "and strength." I placed my hands on top of my knees, palm up, but with my hands in fists. "Of course that's not really what they mean, I don't think, but it's how I see them."

"You do seem to see the world differently from most people," he agreed.

I wasn't sure how to take this, so I asked, "Is that a good thing?"

He just smiled and placed his hands on his knees, palm up, in fists. I allowed myself to slip into my open-mind state again. "Count your breathing. In for eight counts and then out for eight counts," I said.

His breathing fell into time with mine, and I slipped into my catatonic state again. "Aiva?" he said, interrupting my count of five. I didn't really mind though.

"Hmm?" I asked. I heard a sigh, then he muttered something that I didn't hear. "What? I didn't hear you."

"I just said that it's definitely not a bad thing," he said. I felt a smile spread across my face, but said nothing. "Aiva?" he asked again a few minutes later, again interrupting on the fifth count of exhale.

"Yeah?" I asked him.

"You really should sing out loud like that more often. It was really good," he said. I felt my cheeks heat.

"Please don't talk about that. It's not something I'm proud of. Singing makes me cry," I said. He cocked his head as if to ask why. "It reminds me of my family. Especially my mother and father. They used to sing to me when I was little," I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's okay," I said, cutting him off. "Just…I don't want to talk about it." He nodded. I went back to my breathing. He interrupted yet again on count five. "Yes, Reed?" I asked.

"Why do you meditate?" he asked.

"Because it helps keep me focused and is _usually _peaceful," I said, lightly teasing. He nodded. I fell back into my deep breathing. "Reed?" I said after a while.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Meditation with other people doesn't seem to work very well." He nodded in agreement. I stood and held my hand out to him to help him up. He grabbed my jacket that I'd left on the sand and then took my hand, pulling himself up. He handed the jacket out to me, and I took it, sliding it over my shoulders. His wolfish features stared at me from under the hood of his jacket. His eyes were a glowing yellow in wolf form. I wondered what they were like normally. "Why do you stay morphed?" I asked him, without thinking.

"I don't really want to talk about it," he said. I nodded, respecting that. There was the sound of driftwood breaking from behind me, and I whirled around into a fighting stance. It was just a shirtless guy walking along the beach. Something about him was familiar, though. Like I knew him, but I didn't know where from. I took no notice, which was totally uncharacteristic of me, and turned to head back to the parking lot. Until his scent caught the air. He smelled like an animal. I stopped dead, and stared hard at him. He stared back, seeming to sniff the air, and then turned and ran back into the forest. Forks was a strange, strange place. Vampires and now animal-people…what was next, zombies?

"What are you looking at?" Reed asked. I shook my head.

"Nothing. Just thought I saw something, but I guess I didn't." Everyone already thought I was crazy for the mishap at the store earlier. They didn't need reinforcement for those thoughts. But still, this town was seriously weird. Maybe eight mutant bird kids and two mutant wolf-bird kids could fit in here. Well, maybe.

Since that guy had gone away, I decided that maybe staying at the beach wouldn't be so bad. It might even be fun. I just wouldn't let my guard down. I turned to Reed. "Do you want to go swimming?" I asked. He looked at me like I'd grown an extra finger off of the bride of my nose. I scratched it to make sure I hadn't. You can never be too careful.

"We're not dressed for swimming," he pointed out. Like I'd actually let that stop me. I shrugged one shoulder as if to say, 'well, suit yourself'.

"That's never stopped me before," I said. I stripped my jacket off again and pulled my necklace and earrings off. I pulled my shoes off and stuck my ring in the toe of one of them. My ring wouldn't be stolen. My parents gave it to me when I graduated middle school.

After pulling off my socks, I walked purposefully down to the glassy ocean, halting just before the step in. Did I really want to upset such a beautifully smooth surface? Yes, yes I did. I would have fun doing it, too. I decided I would show off a little bit. It couldn't hurt me, right? On second thought, don't answer that. I spread my wings and flew a good thirty feet in the air, out to where I could jump in. I tucked in my wings and free fell as a cannon ball into the frigid waters. I opened my eyes while under, and smiled. It was peaceful. Too bad I needed air. Speaking of which…

I clawed my way through the water to the surface and broke it. The fog surrounded me like a blanket of smoke. The ocean was no longer glass. It rippled at every one of my movements. I looked around, but Reed wasn't there anymore. I started to push my way to the shore, worry seeping into my consciousness before I expelled it. Worrying would get me nowhere. If anything, it would slow my thought process and deter my focus, causing me to take longer to find him. We couldn't have that. I made it to water that was waist high before something pushed me under from behind. I came up gasping, searching for who had dunked me.

Reed stood behind me, laughing like a mad man. My eyes narrowed. So that was how he wanted to play, huh? Well, I could play, too, and I was better than him. I lunged, catching him by the throat and knocking him under backwards. He came up spitting water, shock written all over his face. Then he came after me. I splashed water but it didn't do any good. He just splashed it right back. It got in my eyes and I tripped on a rock, doing a face plant into the water. How embarrassing. I came up and he was laughing. I glared and dove under the surface. I heard him shout form above the water, something about "not fair", but I didn't really care. This was going to be fun. After swimming around behind him, I surfaced, jumped, and landed on his back all at the same time, causing him to go under, and me to go flying from the jump off. I catapulted through the air as if off of a spring board, and whooshed out my wings. I flew to the beach where my jacket was and landed, pulling my socks and shoes onto my wet feet after replacing the ring on my finger. This was funny, and he was just now surfacing. I couldn't help but laugh at his expression. He looked like I'd hit him over the head with a spiked metal bat. Or a mace. Whichever. I wasn't particular about my medieval weaponry.

When he found where I'd gotten away to, he started trudging through the water towards me. I smiled sweetly, having finally gotten everything back on except my jacket. "Hello, how nice to see you again. Did you enjoy your dip in the water?" I asked in an odd accent, due to the suppressed laughter.

"I enjoyed it just fine, thank you. Very refreshing," he added, shaking his hair to get off all of the water. He still hadn't morphed back. It was becoming customary to see him in wolf form, but that didn't mean that I liked it.

"We should head back," I said, picking up the watch he had left on the ground and checking the time. It was ten o'clock. Karianne and Alyanna must be worried sick, or at least thinking some things that were going to cause an awkward interrogation later. Yeah, we needed to head back.

He nodded, shaking the sand off of his jacket. I shivered even though I had my jacket on. That water had been cold, and my thin jacket was doing virtually nothing. He noticed and held his out to me, silently offering it for me to wear. I shook my head, smiling politely. Despite everything, he was still a stranger. I didn't accept articles of clothing from strangers. It was a general rule that I had lived by for ages. Maybe you don't, but I find it odd to take a shoe from a random person on the street. He shrugged one shoulder. My stomach growled, and I realized it was because I hadn't eaten dinner. "Hey, want to stop by a McDonald's on the way to the hotel?" I asked. "I'm starving."

"Yeah, me too. I think I saw one on the way here. Are we flying, or walking?"

"Let's walk. I don't feel like letting my hair get incased in ice," I joked. It was even colder up in the air, and my hair was wet. A case of head ice was not what I needed right now. He nodded and fell into step beside me. We walked briskly toward the McDonald's he had seen, and when we got there we ordered three Big Macs each, mine without tomato. We left after that, and walked back toward the hotel, which was back into town. I shivered most of the way there.

"Are you sure you don't want my jacket?" he asked me. "I'm not cold, so I really don't mind."

I shook my head again. "I'm fine," I said. He didn't offer again after that, for which I was grateful. After we had both finished our food, we stowed the trash in a trashcan on the outskirts of the reservation. It really was a nice little place, if not densely populated.

We made it the rest of the way to the hotel, careful to avoid being seen, for fear the School had spies. When we made it back inside, the guy at the hotel desk looked at us in annoyance. Well, we were dripping sea water onto the carpet. I flashed a smile at him, and we took the stairs to our room. I knocked on everyone's doors as we walked by and called good night to everyone. After entering our room, I changed in the bathroom, favoring a long-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of old basketball shorts, both black. I knocked on the door to make sure he was done changing as well, and crawled into my bed to sleep.

With the blanket pulled up to my neck, I rolled over to face the room. "Good night," I said to Reed, turning off the lamp by my bed.

"Good night, Aiva," he said, turning off the one next to his. I smiled in the darkness. Tomorrow, we would enroll in school. The thought made me fall asleep before the first bell even rang.

**A/N: Well, I hope you all liked it. Review, because I need three reviews to go on. Again, you don't have to have an account. If you don't review, however, I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy.**


	7. The Name Game

**A/N: Well, I got a death threat in a review of my last chapter (the reviewer knows who they are). I got a lot of stuffs favorited and also met the three review goal! YAY! –applauds and is happy-Now I am typing an update because I only had one week or they were going to kill me! Moving on from that happy subject, I would like to point out that I own the plot, the OC's, and a very lovely pair of jeans that I am wearing right now. What I do not own includes: the Twilight series, the Maximum Ride series, the Harry Potter series, the characters from any of the series, the songs named, the song lyrics that I have used, the people that inspired the OC's, the restaurant(s) named (including the Big Mac), and the designer of these jeans. Also, it's been brought to my attention that I never told you what the Percy Jackson reference from the first chapter was. The answer is: THE BLUE PLASTIC HAIRBRUSH! Hooray for any of you that got it. I love blue plastic hairbrushes since reading that series. Now that that's out of the way, ON WITH THE STORY!**

**Chapter seven: The Name Game**

**Aiva POV**

"Hello, my dears! Rise and shine!" I said cheerfully, yanking the curtains away from the window to wake up my sleeping flock. I never got tired of their faces. It was always just so funny. They stirred groggily. "Get dressed and meet in the boys' room in ten or else I'll come in here and pull you into the room by your hair, whether you're dressed or not." This was not an idle threat, and they knew it. This was another thing that made waking them up funny. Karianne rolled over, falling out of bed in her attempt to get up and get ready, and Alyanna got tangled in the blanket when she stood up and tripped over Karianne, still tangled. "Remember, ten minutes," I said, turning to exit the room.

As I turned to go back to mine so that I could brush my hair and put it up, I saw Max leaving the boys' room with the same glow in her eyes as I had in mine. I said, "So you woke them up?" She nodded, grinning. I smirked, and turned to my room. I knocked on the door, and came in when no one answered. Reed was still asleep. I shook his shoulder. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty, it's a new day. If I have to face it, so do you." He groaned and wiped his clawed fists across his eyes to clear away the tiredness. Then he sat up and stretched.

"Morning already?" he asked, already standing and pulling his clothes from his bag. I nodded.

"We enroll at Forks High School today. I'm going to go put my hair up. Knock on the door when I can come out," I said. He nodded. I went to the bathroom and pulled out my blue plastic hairbrush and started working the knots out of my long, dark hair. I hated my hair. It was thick and wavy and annoying. I used to wear it down a lot, but since I started having to fight for my life every minute of every day, I had taken to wearing it up. After finally working out all of the tangles and snares in my hair, I pulled it up into a braid, and then twisted that braid into a bun. I heard a knock at the door. Perfect timing, Reed.

I stepped out of the bathroom and turned into the bedroom. I dialed the number for the elementary school first and set an appointment to have two children enrolled at 9:15. Next, I called the high school and set an appointment to have eight people enrolled at 10:15. That would give us enough time to get everything done that we needed to do today. We were also going to go house-hunting. Max and I had discussed this early this morning on her balcony, since we'd both been up. After a brief meeting, we would discuss which grades we were all going to be enrolled in. Technically, Nudge was supposed to be in middle school, but none of us had wanted her to be there alone.

Ten minutes later, both flocks and Reed sat together in the boys' room. I couldn't help but voice my opinions. "Since Nudge is going to be jumping up three years in age, it might be a good thing if the rest of us did, too. It would draw less attention from the school if we use different ages. So that would leave most of us seventeen or eighteen. Gazzy and Angel could move up, too. They don't necessarily look their age," I said, frowning.

"Okay, so first we have to figure out what grades we should all be in, and then add three years to that?" Alyanna asked. For a reply, I simply nodded.

"So, how old are you, Angel? Why did I ask that if I know? You're six. You'd be in either kindergarten or first grade. Actually, so that we can keep Gazzy in the elementary school with you, let's put you in third grade and Gazzy in fifth. That way he doesn't move up too far. Nudge is a freshman at the high school. Anyone who's fourteen or fifteen is going to be a senior or a junior, depending on where we split. We don't want us all to enroll in the same grade. It would look awkward. So we'll have some seniors and some juniors. Reed…how old are you?" I asked, thinking that I really didn't know where he should be.

"I'm fifteen," he said simply. "But I don't want to go to school."

"You have to. Why? Because I said so. We're all going," I said. No, he did not get a choice in the matter. Too bad for him.

He looked annoyed, but he didn't argue. This was a really good thing for him. Otherwise he would have royally made me mad, and that was never a good thing. Not for anyone. "Okay, so fifteen-year-olds are going to be the seniors. That's Reed, Max, Fang, and I, while Iggy, Kari, and Aly will all be juniors. Nudge, you're the lucky freshmen. Gazzy is fifth grade, and Angel is third grade. There, are we cool?"

"When are we going to go enroll?" Max asked.

"9:15 for Angel and Gazzy, 10:15 for the rest of us. Any questions?" I asked.

"What's the point of me going to school?" Iggy asked me.

"You can take chemistry and learn how to make better bombs," I said. His face brightened and gone was whatever clever retort he had had planned for my answer. I smiled for a brief second before feeling guilty that I was trumping over Max's no bomb rule. Oh well. "Now, any more questions?"

"Have you worked out our story?" Nudge asked.

I sighed. "No, but now that you mention it…let's see…um, we're foster kids from three different families. Our parents travel the world together, but my family had a tragic accident that left my siblings and I alone. So your parents, thinking it best for us, moved us all here to Forks. Now that we're here, we have to go to school, despite being homeschooled all our lives. We also live alone because our parents feel that us older kids are responsible enough to take care of us all. Now, as for the families, Fang and I are related of course, and Kari and Aly are with us, too. Max, Gazzy, and Angel are a family. That leaves Iggy, Nudge, and Reed to be the last family. My family's last name is Tonks. Max's family's last name is Faire, and Iggy's family's last name is James. Does that sound good? We can all pick our first and middle names."

There was collective thinking, except for me. I already knew what I was going to be named.

"I want to be called Penelope Daisy Faire. But I'll go by either Penny or Daisy," Angel announced. I smiled at her.

"I think you look more like a Daisy than a Penny," I told her.

"Then Daisy it is," she said.

"Can I be Christopher Arthur Faire? I'll go by Chris," Gazzy said, surprisingly he had picked a normal name. Max and I both nodded our consent.

"I'll be Katie, but I don't know the middle name," Max said.

"My mother wanted to name me Kaziah, so how about that?" I asked. "Katie Kaziah Faire has a nice ring to it." She shrugged a shoulder and gave a jerk to her head as if to say, 'whatever you say, I really don't care'.

"Okay, how about your family, Iggy? The James family should introduce themselves," Max said.

"Well, I guess I'll be Eric Dimitri James, because that sounds really cool," Iggy said. "Nudge?"

"I think I want to be Julliette Monique James. But I don't want it to be spelled J-U-L-L-I-E-T. I want it to be spelled J-U-L-L-I-E-T-T-E. It's prettier like that," she said, keeping it a lot shorter than usual.

"I was thinking along the lines of Eli. Eli Johnathan James?" Reed asked. I nodded encouragingly.

"That's great. Okay, now, my loving family, introduce yourselves," I said.

Alyanna jumped on the invitation and said, "Bianca Zoë Tonks!" I just nodded.

Karianne came in a little slower with an interesting name as well. "I'm going to be Kallie Danielle Tonks," she proclaimed.

Fang said, "Justin Alexander Tonks." That really did seem to fit him. Minus the Tonks part, but oh, well.

All eyes were on me as I stated, "I am Artemis Elaine Tonks. I'll go by Elaine." It was met with odd looks from Max's flock. "Artemis is the Greek virgin goddess of maidens and the hunt," I explained. "I've always admired her. She and Athena are my favorite two. Athena just didn't fit as well as Artemis." Comprehension fit the gazes of Max's flock. "Now, we must go enroll, or we will be late for our appointment. Come on," I said, urging them all up onto their feet and down the hotel stairs.

Once we were outside, we walked the few short blocks to Forks Elementary School. It was a Monday, so everything was open. We split up so that it would be easier to fit us all into the front office. Max, Angel, the Gasman, and I all went in while the others stayed put. We made our way in and I checked us in at the front desk. We waited for the school counselor to come. When she did, she took us to the Guidance Room, which was just a conference table and a bunch of chairs. We all sat around it, and she talked at us for a while about the school and how they try to make a positive learning environment for students, and yada, yada, yada. She told us her name was Mrs. Ginger and asked us why our parents weren't here. I fed her the fake sob story, and she ate it out of the palm of my hand. Then she handed us a bunch of papers and "bent the rules" for us so that we didn't have to have the shot records and birth certificates and all that crap. After we signed the papers and everything, it was over and Gazzy and Angel would start school the next day.

"There is just one more thing," she said. "You'll have to get them some uniforms. We just added them into the dress code this year. If you don't have the finances, the school can pay for them for you." I nodded.

"Daisy is a youth medium in everything, and Chris is a youth large in everything. Thank you so much," I added as we were leaving. She nodded sympathy in her eyes.

We got out of the building finally, just in time to head over to the high school, which was twenty blocks away, the middle school between them. We couldn't split up this time, so we simply all went in. I signed everyone in and we were led to the Guidance Room of the high school. This one went a little slower, because there were so many more of us. The councilor's name was Mr. Daniels, and he was a genuinely nice guy. He was "so sorry" about the accident my parents had had, and, like the other councilor, bent the rules slightly. He warned us about the uniforms, and then got to talking to us about which classes we wanted/needed to take. When he handed us the paperwork, he said that we'd need to wait a few minutes while he went and got our schedules printed off for us. I nodded and said that that would be fine. I finished my paperwork first and helped Nudge with hers. By the time he came back, everyone had finished their paperwork, with the exception of Iggy, who was having Fang do his.

"Well, here are your schedules. If I can just take the paperwork back…" He held out his hand for the work. We all gave it to him, Fang finished Iggy's quickly, and handed that to him also. "Thank you. I tried to put you all in as many classes with each other as possible. Eric's was the only one that I had difficulty doing that with, so he's got a lot of classes by himself."

"That won't work," Max said.

"I understand your concern Miss Faire, but I can assure you, he'll be fine…" he tried to say, but Max cut him off.

"He's blind," she said. He looked at her.

"Oh, that changes things then. We'll have to get you some books in Braille," he said. "And you schedule will most definitely have to be changed."

"If it's okay, I don't mind if he just shares my schedule. I can help him," Karianne volunteered softly, looking at hers. "That is, if you want," she added to Iggy. He nodded. They both turned to the councilor. "Is it okay?" Karianne asked.

He nodded. "Yes, I think that that will work. As long as he's okay with the classes you have picked out."

"What do you have?" Iggy asked her.

"I have chemistry honors, world geography, chorus, lunch, algebra, PE, and English," she answered, reading from the piece of paper in her hand. He shrugged and smiled.

"I'm good with that." He nodded.

"Now, if I can just get your clothing sizes, we'll have your uniforms ready either tomorrow or the day after," he said. We rattled off our clothes sizes. I could already tell I wasn't going to like the uniform. It would most likely have a skirt. You cannot fly in a skirt. It just doesn't turn out too well. "Okay, thank you. You'll all start tomorrow, don't be late. The tardy bell rings at 8:15."

I nodded, flashing my sweetest, most innocent smile. "We won't miss a second, Mr. Daniels. I promise." Then we all left to go house hunting.

**A/N: Okay, so how did you like it? Don't just sit there thinking about it! Click the little button at the bottom that says "Submit Feedback/Review". You don't need an account! Just do it! If you don't, I guess I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy. Until next time, my loyal readers!**


	8. Freshmeat

**A/N: Hey, this is chapter eight, but I have to tell everyone about a certain reviewer that has reviewed almost (if not every) chapter. This person's penname is dragondaughter217, and she has a good story called Remembering. This story is another MR/Twilight crossover. I have read it, and I like it. So look it up and read it! It's good. Moving on, I got a review the other day. It told me some serious downers on the story, so I'm debating about continuing it. I mean, I thank everyone that likes it, but the end of the review pointed out a lot of things that I did wrong. This may be the last chapter I write. It was constructive criticism, but if there were so many things wrong, then maybe this story isn't as good as I thought it was. There was another one that I got yesterday that told me that I should start switching POV's and that Aiva was bitchy. This probably will be the last chapter; because Aiva was modeled after someone I know who is very close to me. She isn't bitchy, she has a lot of psychological issues, and if you would let me write it out and put more into the story before you make judgments on her, then you would probably understand. I deleted both of these reviews since they weren't signed. So, in honor of a possible, and probable, last chapter, I decided I would make it longer than all the others. Enjoy chapter eight (the final one?).**

**Chapter eight: Freshmeat**

**Aiva POV**

So, school was this morning. I had set the alarm clock for 6:30 A.M. and I had been laying in bed for three hours, having woke up at 3:15 from a nightmare. It was just fifteen more minutes; I might as well get a jump on the day. I grabbed my uniform that the people from the schools had had delivered to the hotel, and then I walked into the bathroom to change, just in case Reed woke up.

I had known I was going to hate this uniform. The first part of it was a white button-down blouse. I left the top button undone so that it wouldn't choke me. The next part to go on was the skirt. The hem was halfway between mid-thy and knee. I pulled on a pair of shorty-shorts before putting it on. I tucked in the shirt and pulled on the knee-length socks. I hated knee-length socks. Then finally, I pulled on my shoes. You were at least allowed to wear your own shoes, as long as they weren't open-toed. My black Vans really didn't go with the rest of the uniform, but I didn't care. We were to have our hair either up in a ponytail/bun, or down. I yanked mine back into a bun, because otherwise it would drive me insane. I put on the tie after that. Makeup went quickly. I simply put on black eyeliner, black mascara, and deep purple lipstick. I was ready, with an hour to spare before we had to start walking to school. I could help the younger kids brush their hair.

I heard the alarm clock sound in the bedroom, and went to make sure everyone was getting up and ready. Reed was already turning off the alarm and gathering his clothes. I decided I would tell him now.

"You know you will have to morph back today, right? Angel shielded their thoughts yesterday, but she won't be able to today." He nodded. "Okay, as long as you know." I then went over to Alyanna and Karianne's room and woke them both up because they had simply thrown their alarm clock onto the floor to avoid getting up. I shoved them both out of bed and onto the floor. "You have exactly thirty seconds to get up and start getting ready," I said harshly. They both lazily pushed themselves up from the floor, yawning as they did so. I rolled my eyes, but smiled inwardly. I loved my flock.

I left and I heard Angel call me in my mind, which she couldn't do unless I wanted her to, or was listening for her. I went into their room to find Nudge beating up her hair with a brush. "It was Nudge, in the hotel room, with the hairbrush," I joked coming over to help her. "You start at the ends and slowly work your way up," I told her, demonstrating with a chunk of her hair. "See? It doesn't hurt as bad, and it leaves more hair in your head." She smiled. "Oh, and Nudge? I found this in my bag, but I don't use it. Do you want it?" I asked, tossing her a tube of lip gloss. Her eyes brightened, and she nodded vigorously, spewing 'thank you's. I smiled and nodded, leaving the room.

"Aiva? Where are you?" Alyanna was calling.

"I'm here, I'm coming," I called back. I entered her room, and winced. She loved the outfit. Karianne, however, hated it almost as much as I did. "What's up?" I asked, looking around the room for possible threats. What can I say? It's now my nature.

"I need help with my hair. I tried to French braid it, but it wouldn't work," she said.

"You can't have your hair braided. It's ponytail, bun, or just down. Take your pick," I said.

"That's not fair! I want to braid it!" she complained.

"Then start a petition, I don't know, but let your hair back down and finish getting ready. It's already seven o'clock," I told her. She muttered stuff under her breath, and Karianne laughed. I rolled my eyes and headed back to my room to grab my bag. We had bought all the necessary school supplies the previous day. When I entered the room, I found Reed combing his human hair. I looked at him. He had dark eyes and an easy, caring smile. Underneath the weird male model look that all the Erasers had, he reminded me of someone I knew, but I couldn't put my finger on why.

"Staring is rude, Aiva," he said. I looked away.

"Sorry, it's just…you remind me a lot of someone I used to know. I just can't remember who," I said, feeling ridiculous. He couldn't be anyone I knew. I'd just met him…what, three days ago? If that was the case, then why on earth did he seem so familiar?

"Okay? Anyway, how much time to we have left before we have to go?" he asked, brushing his teeth.

"Um," I looked at the clock. "Just about twenty-five minutes." He nodded, spitting into the sink. "I'm going to go check on everyone else, make sure that everyone's ready. I'll see you in a few," I said, grabbing my bag and an apple and heading out of the room. "Well, that was awkward," I muttered to myself as I turned into Fang's room.

They were all dressed. Gazzy's shirt was only half tucked in. "Fix your shirt Gazzy," I said. "It's only half tucked." He started tucking it in. "Iggy, you're hair looks a little funny in the front," I said, brushing it with my fingers. "There, that's better." I turned to Fang. "Well, you look fine. God, it's so weird to see you in white," I added. "Be ready soon, okay?" I said to the room in general. "We have to leave by 7:30." They nodded or accepted the knowledge in some way. "Okay."

I walked over into Max's room. She was ready, but her skirt was on backwards, the zipper in the front. "Max, fix your skirt. It's backwards; the zipper goes in the back."

"That's a dumb way to do it," she said. I nodded in agreement.

"How do I look?" Nudge asked. I smiled and gave the thumbs up.

"Come here for a second though," I said. I handed her a paper towel. I taught her how to blot her lip gloss. "That looks better."

Angel came running up to us. "Can you help me with my buttons?" she asked. "Max is still fixing her skirt." I nodded, and got down on one knee so that I could help her. I left the top one undone on her as well. After this, I helped her tie her tie.

They grabbed their bags and made their way into the hallway, as Reed and the male members of her flock had. Max helped Iggy and Gazzy tie their ties. I went to get Karianne and Alyanna out of their room. They were talking about their schedules. I sighed.

"So how many classes do you guys have together?" I asked them.

"We have four if you count lunch," Alyanna answered.

"We all have lunch together, Aly," I reminded her.

"Well, we still have that time together though," Karianne said.

"Come on, or we'll be late. It's my senior year!" I joked. They rolled their eyes and grabbed their bags. We met the others in the hallway, and Karianne stopped dead, looking at Reed.

"When he's not some big wolf-human looking thing, he's actually really hot," she whispered. I burst out laughing.

"Aren't all Erasers like that?" I asked her. She shrugged and gave a jerk of the head as if to say 'you have a point'.

We left the hotel and started walking to the schools. We would drop off Gazzy and Angel, then head on over to the high school. I knew I was tense. I always was, but today was worse. I had always hated the first day of school. No one could ever pronounce my name and everyone always immediately pinned me with the "bad kids", simply because I looked "gothic". Stupid judgmental people. We walked into the elementary school's parking lot, bid our young flock mates goodbye, and headed over to the high school.

Forks High School was a large-ish building with a parking lot full of cars ranging from junky to barley decent. Yep, this would be a great place to blend in for a while. Then I saw a car pull into the lot. It was a silver Volvo, and out of it stepped the weird guy from the grocery store, along with a short girl that looked similar to him, and the human girl. The short girl was just as inhumanly beautiful as the guy was, and it was creeping me out. I could smell their sickly sweet scent from across the parking lot. The girl got a disgusted look on their face, as if she had smelled something nasty, like wet dog, and glanced over at me. She tapped the guy on the shoulder and he got the look on his face, too. They both turned to glare at me, it looked so wrong on their lovely faces, as out of place on their faces as they would be in a crowd. I glared back, not completely sure why, but knowing that I should be.

"Aiva, why are those people staring at you?" Reed asked.

"They're the ones from the grocery store. I don't know why they're glaring at me," I said, not breaking eye contact with the guy. He was talking to the girls. I focused my raptor hearing and listened in on the conversation. He was saying something about 'not human, but not a full Quileute wolf'. How did he know? "You know, let's just get inside. It's not important. Everybody stay close," I said. Max gave me an odd look, but took Fang's hand and led the way. Karianne grabbed Iggy's hand and together they followed Max and Fang. Nudge and Alyanna followed them, and Reed and I brought up the rear of the line.

"I don't like them. They give me the creeps," Reed said. I gave him a questioning look. "I mean, they just don't look…human. And they smell…too sweet. It's weird," he said. I nodded in agreement. "I say we watch our backs around them." Again I nodded.

When we got in the door, I looked at all of our schedules. No one was alone for first class period except for Nudge. Her schedule went like this:

Tech.

(first course)

(first course)

History

. Ed.

She was going to like most of her classes. She would find English fairly simple, and world history interesting. And she would love computer tech. "Okay, your first class is computer tech, so I bet you need to go back to that computer lab we saw earlier. If that's not it, then the teacher will know where to send you," I told her. She nodded, hugged Max and then left, looking every bit the terrified little freshmen that she was. I sent out a prayer for her, even though I wasn't that kind of person.

I looked at the juniors' schedules next. I compared the two. Iggy and Karianne's on the left and Alyanna's on the right:

Honors—Chemistry Honors

Geography—World Geography

—Concert Band

—Lunch

(third course)—English (third course)

. Ed.—Phys. Ed.

(third course)—Algebra (third course)

They all had the same homeroom, second class, lunch, and sixth class. They'd be fine. I sent them to the office to ask where the class was. Then I compared the rest of our schedules, in order from left they are Max's, Fang's, mine, and Reed's:

Honors—Geometry Honors—Geometry Honors—Geometry Honors

History—World History—English Honors (forth course)—English Honors (forth course)

. Ed.—Phys. Ed.—Drama—Phys. Ed.

—Lunch-Lunch—Lunch—Lunch

Honors (second course)—Biology Honors (second course)—Biology Honors (second course)—Biology Honors (second course)

—English (forth course)—Chorus—Concert Band

(forth course)—Band (string instruments)—Sociology—Sociology

Great, we all had similar schedules to one or more people. We all had the same first period. Max and Fang had the same second, while Reed and I had the same second. Everyone but me had the same third class. Lunch was the same as everybody else's. We all had the same fifth class. Max and I were the only ones that shared sixth. Reed and I were the only ones that shared seventh. Not bad at all. I sighed. Now, to find where our first class was.

"Hey, you guys didn't tell me you were going to come to school here," said that weird Eric kid that had been at the check in desk at the hotel.

"You didn't ask," I said. He laughed, even though there wasn't much that was funny.

"Do you need any help getting around? I mean, I could give you a little tour before homeroom and stuff," he said.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but we really don't have time. We're supposed to get our lockers and everything, so can you just show us where the Geometry room is? The teacher's name is Mrs. White," I said.

"Oh, Mrs. White? You're going to love her, but if you're in honors class, it's going to be difficult work," he said.

"I'm sure I can manage, thanks. Now if you can just direct me to the classroom, that would be great," I said, using more and more proper words as I got more and more annoyed. Who did this kid think he was, deciding what would be hard for me? He didn't know my intelligence level.

"Down this hallway, take a right, and it's the open door with the newspaper comic drawings stuck all over it," he said. I nodded my thanks and followed the group that was already heading that way.

We walked into the classroom, and there was an older teacher, maybe in her mid-forties or late-forties, sitting at a cluttered desk drinking coffee from a huge mug that had 'Millennium Mug' printed down the side in rainbow colors. She had brown hair and eyes, and a kind, humorous smile. She had classical music playing behind here, and she was teasing some kid about what grade he had in geometry. When she looked up, she saw us, and she blinked for a moment as if wondering who we were, then her face dawned understanding.

"You must be the new students," she said, smiling brightly. I nodded. "I'm Mrs. White, I teach every kind of math that you can imagine except for calculus. Pick a locker partner, and I'll get you your locks. We don't allow locker sharing if the partnership is boy/girl," she added.

I looked at Max as she looked at me. Reed and Fang would share. As a group, the four of us returned our gazes to Mrs. White. She smiled and led us all to our lockers. After putting away the stuff we didn't need, we walked into the room, armed with binders full of notebook paper, pencils, and our schedules. When we came back in, Mrs. White had us sit together at the front of the room, which I already didn't like. I didn't want to be in the front. After the announcements that came over the intercom, she called class to order.

"Now, we have four new students in this class. Why don't you four come up to the front of the room and tell us your full name, a hobby, and what you like most about math," Mrs. White said. I smirked. The four of us stood and made our way to the front of the room. Max went first.

"I'm Katie Keziah Faire. I keep track of all my younger siblings and virtual siblings, so I really don't have time for hobbies. My favorite part of math? Well, I guess I like the symbols the best. I mean, they all look so funny," she said. I bit back laughter.

Reed went next. "I'm Eli Johnathan James, and my hobby is writing poetry. I guess I like multiplication?"

Fang was next, and he said, "I'm Justin Alexander Tonks. I play a mean harmonica, and adding is cool." Max snickered and they met eyes for a moment before both turned to me. Well, I guess it was my turn now.

"My name is Artemis Elaine Tonks. I go by Elaine. I like to read and write novels, and my favorite part of math is finding the area of various geometric figures," I said strongly. I got weird looks as we went back to our seats and sat down. We sat and did all this crap on finding the area of circles, which was way too easy and very boring, but at least Mrs. White was really funny, and didn't call on the new kids that much. Actually, she just tended to ask the class in general, and we were allowed to blurt out the answer.

Second class went pretty much the same, but with some teacher named Mrs. Connell. She was pretty cool, most of the students thought she was mean or whatever, but that wasn't the case. She just didn't take their crap, so they were upset. Personally, I liked her. Reed found her okay. We'd tell Max and Fang to keep to her good side at lunch.

Third class was probably the most interesting of the morning, despite the fact that I was alone. There were so many different kids, it was just weird. We had preps in there, Goths, band geeks, nerds… you name it. The teacher, Mrs. Di Angelo, had me read a monologue, and then she assigned me auditions for three different roles in the play that they were going to do, one of them being the leading lady. It was funny to see the looks on all the preps' faces, when she gave me the audition forms. Everyone else had only been allowed to try out for two roles max.

After third, I had lunch with everyone else. This should be interesting. We met outside the cafeteria doors, all eight of us, and made our way inside as one. Max led us, simply because I just wanted to hang in the back. I had seen the freaky people heading over here, and I wanted to put myself between my family and them. This was very annoying. I hated all the people walking around. We claimed a table to ourselves, having gotten our food, when that Eric kid showed up.

"This is kind of our table," he said. Max looked up at him.

"Well now it's ours. Seriously, it's our first day, can we not use this table?" she said.

"Do what you want, but I just hope that the Cullens don't get mad at you," he said.

"Cullens?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Yes, the Cullens. They're Dr. Cullen and his wife's foster kids. They're all like, dating. It's really weird. They're not related technically, but still," he said. I nodded.

"What are their first names?"

"The one with the brown haired girl is named Edward, the girl is Bella. The short chick is Alice," he added. The others were talking all around me, not paying attention to what I was doing. They were talking about classes and everything, and how each others' days were going, and blah blah blah.

Then the Cullens walked in, and they found me instantly. Glaring, they walked through the crowded lunch room straight for us. The crowd seemed to part as they came by, as if they repelled them. I didn't know why, and I didn't want to understand. I just knew that it wasn't right. The human girl, Bella, clung to Edward's arm, fear in her eyes. Alice seemed to dance with grace beside Edward as they walked. Edward looked disgusted. Eric left to go stand next to his friends, who were whispering. Edward walked straight up to me and stood, looking into my eyes. I hated him having the high ground, so I stood, too. Neither of our gazes wavered.

"Can I help you?" I asked coldly when he said nothing.

"This is our table," he replied.

"If you want us to move you're going to be horribly disappointed. We aren't moving," I said, sensing that this wasn't about the table. He was claiming this school as their turf. Unfortunately for him, I didn't give in that easily. This was something I had learned from Max. Don't back off.

He glared daggers. "You aren't from around here, are you?" I shook my head, my eyes not parting from his. I knew I looked threatening, as did he, and people were starting to stare.

"No, we're not from here, but this is our table now, so leave," Max said, standing next to me.

"What class do you have next?" Alice asked, seeming kind and not territorial.

"Bio two, honors," I said. She smiled, but it seemed fake to me.

"We all have that next, too. We'll see you then," Edward said, still glaring, his velvet voice too soft and perfect.

Max and I both smirked. "We look forward to it," I said and she added, "Can't wait."

They left and sat at a table near the window. Eric and all of his friends went over and joined them. Max and I sat back down. "Well, it's our first day, and we're already making major enemies. Brilliant," I said. Max nodded her agreement. Next class would be fun. We sat around making small talk and planning where to meet once school let out. We decided over by the elementary school entrance, so that Gazzy and Angel wouldn't be left alone to wait. The others were finally agreeing with me that those Cullen people were weirdoes. It felt good to be right, even if it was about something that was bad and scary. Everybody kept smirking at Nudge and whispering to each other. I looked at her. She was eating quietly, an odd thing for her to do. I heard someone mutter something about "fresh meat". I would talk to her later.

After the bell that ended lunch, Max, Fang, Reed, and I all made our way to Biology II Honors. This was another class that we all had together. For this reason, despite the fact that we had it with the weird Cullen people, I was happy to go. I didn't have many classes with Max and Fang. We walked into class and the teacher, Mr. Banner, told us to find two tables, so that we could all be partners. He even moved two people so that we could have the tables at the back of the room. "Not that I have anything against you, I just don't want anyone distracted by the 'new kids'," he explained. I liked this guy. He was considerate. He, like every other teacher I'd had today, made us introduce ourselves, and then gave us our stuff so we could sit down. Edward and Bella sat at the table next to mine and Reed's. It was a fairly uneventful class, but that didn't mean I enjoyed it.

The two freaks kept staring at us, and it was really annoying. I glared at them whenever they glanced at me. Bella seemed to be confused. If I had been one of them, I wouldn't have kept her in the dark as to why we didn't like each other, even though I didn't really know either. They seemed to, however, so it was horrible to keep her from knowing.

Finally the bell rang, and we left. Max and I headed to chorus class, or choir; Fang headed to English fourth course; Reed headed to concert band. The class was easy for Max and I, we just did simple vocal warm-ups and she placed us into our sections (alto 1 or 2, soprano 1 or 2, etc.). Max was a second soprano, and I was told to sing with her for now, but I could really be put anywhere because of my large vocal range. She had us do a few songs with the class. One was a pop-vocal piece and it was a medley of Carrie Underwood's hits. Another was a gospel piece with a seven-part harmony, once you added in tenor, baritone, and bass voices, mostly guys, with the exception of two girls who sang tenor to balance the low voice-high voice ratio. After this, we did a song that was being performed during the drama class musical. The teacher, Ms. Delaney, asked if anyone was going to be trying out for the role of Christine Daae. Along with two other girls, I raised my hand. Max looked at me in a tone that demanded explanation. I shrugged. "My drama teacher told me to," I whispered to her. No one raised their hands when she asked about the phantom.

"Since you two have practiced for the audition multiple times, I think that we should let Miss Tonks have a try, without male vocals," Mrs. Delaney said. I swallowed. I hadn't been prepared for this, and now I was going to do the really big solo part? She looked at me, expecting an answer. I nodded. "Alright then, here you go, and you will stand at the front of the room and read the sheet music from my stand," she instructed, handing me a microphone. I took it from her, thinking I would look more ridiculous if I backed down than if I just went for it. I didn't really need the sheet music, but I looked off of it anyway.

The music started, followed by the choir, and then I took a deep breath, and sang. "_In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came_," the rest of the song was simple. I just looked at the back wall and felt it. At the end of the song, there was applauds from Mrs. Delaney. She told me I had done well, and then the bell rang.

Seventh class was sociology, and it was really very interesting. It was similar to psychology, but it was the study of how groups of people interact with each other and stuff like that. All in all it was really interesting. It was the last class of the day, and Reed and I headed to our lockers go get all of our homework. We chatted on and on about nothing on the way there, and once we got there, I grabbed my books and we headed out.

We had homework in geometry, biology, and English, and I had to practice for my auditions. I had decided not to tell anyone except for Max, because she already knew. She had agreed that she wouldn't tell anyone either.

**Karianne POV**

School, why did we have to go? We have wings! We finally get out of going to the stupid place, and then Aiva wants us to go right back! Not cool. Then again, the smartest person in the entire school must be missing it. I'm so mean. So, once Aiva sent us off to find our homeroom, we walked around for a little while, thinking that we would have a good excuse if we were just a _little_ late. Alyanna didn't like it much, but that was alright. She was a goody-goody anyway.

We finally made it around to Chemistry I Honors. This was going to be an easy class. I'd done stuff like this in middle school. When we walked in, however, I realized that I had been sadly mistaken. Darn it, I really wanted at least one easy class! Our teacher, Mrs. Carder, led us to our lockers and then gave us the combinations. We put all of our crap in them (me sharing with Aly and Iggy having one to himself), and then went back into the room. Mrs. Carder had us introduce ourselves and then list where we were from. Since we didn't really have a home anymore, we just listed a place that we would like to go. Iggy went first.

"My name is Eric James, and I'm from Plainville, Kansas," he said. "Yes, it is a real place. You can Google it. It's a really small town with a population of 2,029."

I smiled, and nudged Aly to go next. "I'm Bianca Tonks. I'm from Lost Nation, New Hampshire. Like Eric's it's real and you can Google it."

"I was named Kallie Tonks and I'm from a lovely place called Idiotville, Oregon. No joke, Google says it's there, and it is," I said. "It's a ghost town, but I was born there when my parents took a tour."

Mrs. Carder nodded, looking at us all oddly due to the weird town names we had used. I kid you not, they are real places. She assigned us seats near the windows, which was fine by me. Iggy looped a long finger around my pinky finger so that he could find his way. I smiled. I could feel my cheeks heat, but I blamed it on the room being so hot. I would be lab partners with him, and Aly was going to be with some dude named Mike. This could be a fun class.

It turns out the class was really easy with Iggy around. He was so good with the mixing and matching of different ingredients that we were the best in the whole dang class! I just had to write down the observations for us since he couldn't. That was an easy part as well, though. I was sad to leave, but we all had world geography next, so I guessed it couldn't be that bad.

I was wrong. Our teacher was old and annoying. She kept lecturing us, and the worst part? She gave us like, three pages of questions on our first day! It was horrible.

After that class, Iggy and I went to chorus class while Aly went to concert band. Chorus with Iggy was fun. I sang alto and he was a tenor or baritone, the teacher couldn't really tell because he sang so quietly she couldn't hear him. I stood next to him for a while, and I liked his voice. It was low, but pretty, and not like a tuba sounding. We did some stuff from the Phantom of the Opera, which was apparently the drama class's thing that they were doing. It was really cool.

After chorus, we went to lunch. Aiva had some blowout with a really hot guy over the table we were sitting at, but other than that, it was pretty fun. Iggy sculpted his mashed potatoes into a rubber duck, and I sculpted mine into a volcano. It was hilarious.

After lunch was algebra, except for Aly because she had English III. It was really easy with a decent teacher teaching us. Mrs. White was her name, and she was awesome. I probably learned more in that one class than I had throughout my entire school career.

After algebra, Iggy and I met up with Aly for Phys. Ed. It was stupid, so while Iggy played and led his team to victory, Aly and I just kind of stood around hoping that the ball didn't come our way.

Last class was English III for Iggy and me, and algebra for Aly. It was easy. We were just assigned to read a small passage from _Romeo and Juliet _tonight. It was going to be so easy. Of course, I would have to read it to Iggy.

We met up with Aly after class and headed to our lockers. We grabbed our books and homework and bags and all that crap, and then we headed off to meet everyone at the elementary school. I saw Nudge run out with her bag on her shoulders and her Physics book pressed to her chest. Her head was down and she seemed to not see us. I wondered what that was about.

**Angel POV**

This school thing was easy. We went to so many different classes. My favorite was art and recess. The others were easy, because all I had to do was read the teacher's mind and tell them the right answer. In science class we were learning about the water cycle. In math we were learning to multiply. In reading, they had us read a story out of the textbook. I decided that I liked third grade. It was a piece of cake. I had made friends, too. Their names were Keisha and Marie. They were funny and liked hopscotch and jump rope. Living here was going to be fun.

**The Gasman POV**

My teacher didn't like me because I farted when I told him my name. He was strict and his name was Mr. Peterson. He was a grumpy old fart. He was funny though. I looked over at his computer and he was on and his profile said 'sexy science teacher'. I almost died laughing. I had three new friends. Their names were Zack, Todd, and Gunnar. They were pretty cool, but really weird. We were learning about the human body in science and ironically focusing on the digestive system. I was having fun with that one. In the language arts portion of our time, we spent it writing an essay on our favorite thing to do. I used making stink bombs. Mr. Peterson got mad about that, but I really didn't care. He asked me my favorite thing to do, and I told him. Was that really so wrong? Recess was awesome, because we played dodge ball and my team won. Lunch was good, too. I had beans. Reading was boring because we were doing some stupid poetry unit in the textbook, and I hated it. I'm eight, I don't care about what 'The Raven' by Edgar Allen Poe was supposed to symbolize! If you cut out all of the academic parts of school, it was really pretty fun.

**Nudge POV**

School sucked! I wish we hadn't pushed Max and Fang into going. I hated it. The teachers were okay, but all the kids were so mean to me. There were these sophomore guys that kept calling me Freshmeat and stuff and saying all these nasty comments. I never wanted to set foot in this school again. My day went sort of like this:

First period was computer technology, which I was totally psyched about. I would be in the class with seniors, juniors, and sophomores, as well as other freshmen. I was going to meet people and make new friends and I was going to love it here! I was so excited! When Mr. Garcia called me to his desk to have my new kid slip signed, he had me tell everyone my name. "I'm Julliette Monique James. I like computers and shopping. I want to be a computer technician when I grow up," I said, smiling and doing a little wave at the class. A group of guys sitting in the back snickered. I didn't really think much of it. My day was going to be great.

Mr. Garcia started the class with a simple explanation of the different parts of a computer, and then he taught us how to make a really cool looking pie chart on Microsoft Excel. We did the percentage of something you cared about. I did my clothes, and took the percentage of time I spent wearing t-shirts, tank-tops, shorts, and long-sleeve shirts, and jeans during a year. It looked really cool. Mine got displayed on the SmartBoard because of the good work that I did. I could feel myself glowing with pride, until I felt something hit the back of my head. I turned around and found the little note that had hit me. I picked it up and read it. It said, 'Freshman _and_ computer nerd? You're going to die, Freshmeat.' I turned to see who had written it, and found the guys in the back snickering again. I decided to ignore it. I mean, they couldn't really hurt me, could they?

When the bell rang, I got up and quickly tried to make my way to English I, but one of the guys grabbed me by the upper arm, and slammed me against a locker hard. He smirked at me and ran his eyes from my head to my legs and back up again. Then he leaned in and whispered in my ear, "You're dead, Freshmeat." Then he and his friends were gone. I refused to let myself be afraid or hurt, but where the locker had cut into my wing was burning. Some other girl came up next to me.

"Hey, don't worry about them. It's just Jose and Dwayne and Louis. They're jerks, all three of them. They're really horrible. A lot of us freshmen and sophomore girls usually stick together in the hallways. You can walk with me and Janet if you want," she said. I nodded, too shaken up to realize what I was agreeing to, and not really caring. "I'm Christie, by the way," she added as she walked me over to a short blonde haired girl waiting by the door to the computer room. When we got there she introduced us.

"Hi," I said. "What's the deal with them anyway?"

"They moved here from Arizona about a year ago, but they flunked out of their sophomore year, so they're still in it. They're horrible jerks, always getting in trouble with Chief Swan, that's the police chief here. It's always better to stick with a partner or a group if you're going to be in the hallway," Janet explained. Christie nodded.

"Just stay clear of them and you should be fine," she said. I sighed.

"Okay. What do you guys have next?" I asked them. They had English with me, and were happy to show me the way. I learned a lot about them, and I was happy to find that Jose and his cronies weren't in that class, which was surprisingly difficult. How was I supposed to know what a poem written in old English meant if I couldn't even understand half of the words?

The next class I had was algebra, and Dwayne was supposed to have that class, but he got caught skipping, so he spent it in the principal's office. After one of the easiest classes in my life, I was told that it was a regular thing for him to miss class for the principal. Thank God.

I was pretty quiet through lunch, but that was okay, because Aiva and Max stole the attention anyway by arguing over the table with some sexy bronze haired guy. He was a senior, but so were they, so I guess neither of them had a claim higher than the other's claim. I had seen Louis and Jose in the hallway when I came, and Louis had muttered "Freshmeat" as I walked by. Jose had run his hand along my stomach, trailing it lower on my body as he walked by. I didn't feel like eating, but I did anyway. I didn't know how to deal with this. Normally, I would just punch the guys out and be done with it, but I couldn't do that here. I needed to fit in, or I would let the entire flock down and we'd have to leave again. Getting kicked out of school for punching some guy in the nose didn't seem like the way to fit in. In fact, I was sure it would probably stick out.

I shuddered as I walked to class with some girl named Marissa, who had asked me so that she wouldn't have to walk alone. I accepted the invitation eagerly. World history would have been really fun, if it weren't for Louis, Dwayne, and Jose, who sat behind me (Louis), behind me to my right (Dwayne), and beside me to my right (Jose). I hated the class for just that reason, and turned in a pretest with half the questions wrong and the other half blank. Papers kept ending up on my desk with the word 'Freshmeat' scribbled on them in sloppy writing, and Louis's knee kept finding my butt through the space between the backrest and the seat of my desk.

Physics was a breeze. I understood everything so perfectly, and the best part was that the jerks weren't in my class. I moved through Newton's laws like they were air, and I only had seven questions left on my homework by the time it was time to leave.

I found Janet and Christie and we walked to gym together, since the three of us had it together. The gym teacher handed me a lock with the combination and a locker number, and also a gym uniform. I sighed, heading into the locker room, and changed in a stall, so that they wouldn't see my wings. When I came out of the locker room, I saw to my dismay, Dwayne, Louis, and Jose sitting on the bleachers ready to be picked for teams. '_Okay, Nudge, it's just one more class. You can make it_,' I told myself. Then I went and sat on the bleachers next to Jan and Chris. The stupid uniform didn't cover much. It was short shorts and a nearly see-through white shirt. Jose's eyes found the uniform more that my face as I walked by.

Coach called out, "Alright, we're playing baseball today. Aaron, Jan, come pick your teams!" Aaron got picked first, so he chose his best friend. Jan chose Chris. Aaron picked Jose, not because they were friends, but because Jose was glaring at him. Jan picked me. It pretty much went like that, and all the jerk guys were on the other team, which was a good thing until I was standing on any one of the bases. They guarded all three of them. They whispered things at me, calling me names that I can't repeat, and some things that I don't even know what are. Three male voices yelled "FRESHMEAT!" every time I went up to bat or rounded a base or scored a point. By the time we went back to change and shower, I felt like crying.

I showered quickly, and then pulled my clothes on. I walked to my locker alone, well, nearly ran to my locker. After grabbing my books that I would need for homework, I stuffed them in my bag and grabbed my physics book, holding it to my chest, just in case I saw any of the jerks. I made my way to the doors and was outside before the jerks had even finished at their lockers. I made it halfway to the elementary school, and checked behind me. Seeing Aiva and Reed walking, I stopped and waited. I would feel so much safer walking between them.

"Hey, Julli, what's up?" Aiva asked.

"Nothing much. I just want to go home. I have a crap load of homework," I lied. She nodded.

"Us, too, but school was better than I expected it would be," she said. I faked a smile, and I think she noticed, but I couldn't be sure. Up ahead I saw Jose, and my blood ran cold in my veins. He wouldn't try anything with Aiva and Reed here, though. He wasn't brave enough.

"Julli, are you okay?" Aiva asked me. I looked up at her.

"Yeah, sorry. I just spaced out," I said, inching a tiny bit closer to her so that I was out of Jose's reach. "I'm just tired, I guess," I added, wiping my fist across my eye. "Gym class was heck." She smiled at me.

When we arrived at the elementary school, Max and Fang were there with Gazzy and Angel. Iggy, Kari, and Aly weren't there yet. They were coming up behind us, though, so it was okay. When we got back to our hotel, I pulled out my physics stuff and finished it before grabbing an apple to snack on. I wouldn't tell Max and Aiva just yet. I would try to deal with this on my own. I was smart, and brave, and I could do it. It would just take a couple days.

**A/N: Well, that was it. Those towns seriously are real places, and you really can Google them. I'm not going to put the chainsaw thing on here, because I just don't want to. I'm sorry to up the stakes, but anyone who reads my story regularly and wants it to continue needs to review telling me why you like it, and why it should go on. And I don't mean just "HEY UPDATE CUZ IT'S GOOD!" I want actual reasons. I need ten of them. I'm that serious about shutting down this story. If I don't get enough reviews, I will give an author's note chapter just to tell you, so that you aren't waiting around forever. Thank you to all of you that love the story, and any of you who review. It means a lot to me. I've said it before, and I will say it again. Honest thank-you's go out to you all. Love from me, and for a possible last time, bye-bye. ~xxoxKitKatxoxx**


	9. Lalala Suprise

**A/N: I got all ten reviews faster than expected, and I thank all that reviewed. It's great to know how much you all care, and I won't ever let a flame put the story on hold again. Thank you all, honestly, from the bottom of my heart. I already said this, but I'll say it again. This story takes place during **_**Eclipse**_** and after **_**STWAOES**_**. As promised, here is chapter nine. Enjoy. Also, I don't own any poetry named unless I say that I do.**

**Chapter nine: Lalala Surprise**

**Aiva POV**

After we got home, we all hung out in our rooms and did homework after changing into normal clothes. Gazzy had to copy pages out of his science book because he'd gotten in trouble (already), and Angel had a paper to do about equivalent fractions. I hung out with Reed in our room, and we talked as we did our homework. It was surprisingly easy to be around him, like he was meant to be put into my little flock of three. Truth be told, I had considered the idea, but I figured I would leave it open until later. He might surprise me yet, and I didn't want to be wrong about something that serious.

"Aiva, I hate biology. How am I supposed to know what the finger bones are called? I can't find it in the book anywhere!" Reed asked, frustrated.

"It was in the lesson today. In fact, it was on the white board, drawn and labeled. But if you must know, It's on page fifty-eight," I informed him. My biology homework was already done, and I was over halfway finished with my geometry. Reed had his geometry done, and he was at the start of his biology work. His English homework lay to the side, half started. I gave a minute smile, just for myself. I felt so normal. Doing homework with a friend, talking about nothing, it was like I was actually normal for a few minutes. It felt great, but I knew it wouldn't last. I forced my nose back into my geometry book, trying to remember how Mrs. White had taught us to divide the shaded area into recognizable geometric shapes.

"Hey, Aiva, are you okay?" Reed asked a few minutes later.

I looked up from my book, finally having finished. "Yeah I'm fine. Why?" I asked, laying back on my bed and stretching before I had to do my English.

"I don't know. You just look like something's eating at you. Are you worried about something?" he asked. I shook my head. "Maybe it's just me then," he said. I shrugged, half smiling and moved my geometry book off of my stomach so that I could sit up. I grabbed my blue hairbrush from the nightstand and pulled my loose hair up into a ponytail. It was getting annoying. After setting the brush back down, I pulled a piece of paper in front of myself, and thought about the assignment.

We were to write one full page about our favorite poem and how we related to it and how it made us feel and all that fuzzy crap. I had picked 'Alone' by Edgar Allen Poe. Instead of writing a one page report type thing, since it was supposed to be unique, I wrote a line from the poem and explained in a sentence or three what it meant to me. It was long and roughly a page and a half when I got finished with it. Reed had finished the biology and was finishing up his English when I finished mine. I stood and stretched. I told him that I was going to check on Alyanna and Karianne, and that I would be back soon. He nodded, so I headed on into their room.

I heard laughter as I was in the hallway, so I wasn't surprised when I opened the door and found that they hadn't so much as opened their backpacks. "Come on, guys," I said. "School is important. Work with me here," I added. "You know what? If you get your work finished before dark, we'll take a fly. Sound good? Just the three of us. Like old times," I added persuasively. They smiled and nodded. We hadn't gotten to fly just the three of us since our first night after we all woke up from the surgery that gave us our wings. We flew away from the school, and we got caught when we landed by Erasers, one of which, I noticed as I remembered, looked like Reed. After reminding them that homework went faster if you didn't talk, I left.

I hung out with Reed in our room, talking and watching TV once he got done with his homework. I'd saved my drama practice until later. I didn't feel like it right now. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was looking at me. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just thinking," he said.

I frowned. "About me? Why?"

He shrugged. "I just am. What's the deal with those weird Cullen people? I mean, it's creepy. They look at you like you disgust them. I don't get it."

I shook my head to clear it. "I think they know I'm not human. I mean, I was listening in on their conversation in the parking lot, and the guy was saying"—

Reed gasped in mock horror. "You were listening in on a private conversation? Aiva! I expected better of you!"

I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at him. "_As I was saying_," I said pointedly. "They guy was telling the girls that I'm not human. I don't know how he knew that, but he did."

"It was probably your scent," he said. I raised an eyebrow. "Well, how do you think we track you? Your scent isn't human, which makes you kind of easy to find."

I frowned. I'd never thought about that. "Well, still, the point is that he knows about us, or me at least."

"Hmm, well that sucks. And that whole battle over the lunch table was really inconspicuous by the way," he added. I rolled my eyes.

"Never mind." I glanced out the window, noticing that the sun was setting. "I think I'm going to go for a flight. Probably meditate a little. See you when I get back," I said, heading toward the door to tell Max and Fang and my flock.

When I walked into Karianne and Alyanna's room, I found Iggy and Karianne, but no Alyanna. Karianne was reading a passage from _Romeo and Juliet _to Iggy. She was stumbling over the words, and I couldn't help but smile, because she was blushing at a very sappy part of it. "Sorry to interrupt," I said as she finished, "but I needed to tell you that I'm going flying. I'll be back after dark, don't wait up." They both nodded, and Karianne went back to the passage. I headed back out of the room, setting course for Fang's room next. I poked my head in and told him and Gazzy where I was going. Then I went to the girls' room, and told Max, Alyanna, Nudge, and Angel where I was off to. Then I headed back into my room to grab my drama stuff.

I took off and headed to that beach that I'd gone to with Reed. I pulled off my jacket, revealing a T-shirt with my favorite band on it, and sat down studying the music as I listened to the ocean. I was familiar with the _Phantom of the Opera_; it was one of my favorite plays. I wasn't quite sure that I was destined for the role of Christine, so I would also be trying out for Carlotta, the soprano that can't sing a note to save her life and is jealous of Christine, and Meg Giry, Christine's best friend and daughter of Madame Giry, who is manager of the ballet. I practiced for Christine's role first. I looked at the music before me and sang "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again".

"_Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing._

_Her father promised that he would send her the angel of music._

_Her father promised her._

_Her father promised her…_

_You were once my one companion_

_You were all that mattered_

_You were once a friend and father_

_Then my world was shattered_"

This was the depressing song that Christine sang to her father when she came to place flowers on his grave. I let the music hit me and the truths of the words over power me. I was completely alone, so I figured it wouldn't matter.

"_Wishing you were somehow here again_

_Wishing you were somehow near_

_Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed_

_Somehow you would be here_

_Wishing I could hear your voice again_

_Knowing that I never would_

_Dreaming of you won't help me to do_

_All that you dreamed I could_"

It was at that precise moment that I realized I'd never cried for my parents' deaths or the death of my sister. They had been killed by the Erasers when I was taken. I sang on, willing myself not to lose it.

"_Passing bells and sculpted angels_

_Cold and monumental_

_Seem for you the wrong companions_

_You were warm and gentle_

_Too many years fighting back tears_

_Why can't the past just die_"

I realized how long_ I_ had been fighting the tears for the good of my flock. It was a long time. Thinking about it, I felt the warm saltwater brim at the edge of my eyelids before dripping down my cheeks. There was no one around. I let it happen.

"_Wishing you were somehow here again_

_Knowing we must say goodbye_

_Try to forgive, teach me to live_

_Give me the strength to try_

_No more memories, no more silent tears_

_No more gazing across the wasted years_

_Help me say goodbye…_

_Help me say goodbye…_"

The last little bit sounded slightly off key due to the tears, but that was fine with me. I was too busy crying to care very much. I lay back on the sand, settling the music papers in my English book that I had brought along, and cried. I turned onto my side and curled into a ball, letting myself ache. I don't know how long I stayed like that—maybe five minutes?—when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't know who it was, but I was ashamed to have been found in this position, so I just stayed turned away and continued crying. As long as they couldn't see my face, I was okay. The strong, gentle hands lifted me into a sitting position, and I turned to face them, or the person they belonged to anyway.

Reed knelt on the sand next to me, concern written all over his face. I felt the tears still falling, and let a choked sob escape. He just looked at me, as if unsure of what to do.

"I," I started to say. "I'm… Oh, just laugh already."

"Why would I laugh if you're hurting?" he asked. I completely lost it all when he said that. I burst into fresh tears and buried my face in his shoulder. He put his arm around my shoulder and stroked my hair.

After about twenty minutes of crying the hardest I had in my life, I was spent. I sat back on the sand, knowing I looked like a train wreck, and buried my face in my hands, wiping off the remains of the tears. After my face was dry, I looked off at the water, thinking of the last time I had been here with Reed. I was a girl fond of opposites, but this was ridiculous. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. His shirt was soaked.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was making sure you were okay. You're the one who said that we shouldn't go out alone," he said.

"I was talking to Aly and Kari when I said that. My flock," I added. "It didn't apply to you." I knew I was being rude, but I didn't care. This was the second time he had caught me crying. It would be a reoccurring theme if he did so again. I swore to myself I wouldn't give him the chance.

"Sorry, I thought it did," he said, seeming unfazed by the curt tone that I had taken up.

"You shouldn't have. You're not a member of either of our flocks. You're just traveling with us. Don't make the mistake again," I said shortly. The part of me that wasn't attempting to treat my wounded pride told me that this wasn't true, and I knew it. I knew that I cared about him, at least enough to not hate him for what his stupid pack had done to my family, but that didn't mean that he was a member of my flock. Did it? No, it didn't. But did it mean that I wanted him to be? I wasn't so sure about that one.

"I won't," he said, still seeming to take my tone lightly. "Now why were you crying?" he asked, as though I wasn't verbally slapping him with every word.

"That's neither your business, nor your concern," I said. Strangely, when I got upset, I used really big words. It was a strategy to distract myself enough so that I didn't phase into a wolf at the worst possible time.

He shrugged as if to say, 'you have a point' and looked out over the ocean. "It's pretty, isn't it?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and stood, brushing sand off of my butt. I scooped up my stuff and walked off into the woods, not sure why I was so upset with him. He hadn't done anything but try to help. I went in a good fifty feet before I saw something really big move roughly twenty feet away from me. It ran off after something in front of me. I heard sounds of violence, and decided to follow.

I walked further into the forest, feeling rather than seeing or hearing Reed following me. I knew I was getting closer to the thing. Whatever it was, it had been the size of a horse. Hearing the noises grow louder, I broke into a run, feeling the wind whip my hair out of my eyes. I heard a man's voice, and broke into a clearing. Wolves the size of horses were tearing a beautiful woman apart. She smelled as sickly sweet as the Cullens.

I don't know what came over me, but I phased right then and there, with Reed getting a full view, into my horse-sized, pure white wolf form. I growled deeply, and helped them rip apart the creature as well. It didn't bleed as I ripped one of its arms off, and when we were done tearing it to shreds, one of the others phased back behind a tree, and burned it. I breathed heavily, and looked around at the rest of them, now afraid, realizing that I had let outsiders know about me, and that I couldn't change back to my regular form, because my clothes were now shreds of cloth on the ground behind me. Crap. I hunched myself over and growled low in my throat, daring any of them to come near me.

"What the—Elaine? What's—?" I heard Reed ask. At least he had used my fake name. I heard one of the others growl upon seeing him, and I planted myself firmly between him and Reed. None of these strange wolves were going to touch him, even if I was mad for unknown reasons.

"Leah!" the one in human form said. "Don't kill her without knowing who she is first." He then turned to me. "I'm Sam Uley. We're from the Quileute tribe. If you'll follow us back to my fiancé and my house, we'll loan you clothes to change into, and we'll talk to you there." He didn't talk to me as if I was stupid, but as if he wanted to help me. I narrowed my eyes and glanced back at Reed, who was looking up at me, wide-eyed.

I turned back to the Quileute and nodded. We'd just see who these people were. The rest of them filed through the trees in the same direction, probably toward this house that the one had talked about. I looked back at Reed, knowing my expression read something like 'please come with me and give me a chance to explain'. He picked up the book that I had dropped, and walked next to me, as Sam walked on my other side. This was going to be as fun as a barrel of monkeys.

**A/N: Well, now the Quileute wolves are in the story! YAY! Review, review, review! I need three! I mean… you don't **_**have**_** to, because I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy. :D Until next chapter! Which might not happen until after the 17****th**** of this month, because I'm going to be doing stuffs. BYE BYE!**


	10. Big Bad Aiva

**A/N: I'm back! I know you all missed me so much –does sarcastic laugh—right? Right. So, here I am with chapter ten! I'm deleting the author's note since it's no longer useful, and annoys me because it's going to throw all the chapter numbers off. So, my dears, here is chapter ten.**

**Chapter Ten: Big Bad Aiva**

**Aiva POV**

Well, we got to Sam's house, and when his fiancé saw me, she looked confused, but smiled at me all the same. I didn't stare at her scars. I knew how it felt, and I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, so I nodded my wolfish head politely and turned around to face Sam again. Emily brought me out clothes, and Sam ordered everyone away from a large oak tree. I went behind it and phased back. Her clothes were a little tight on me, but I'd deal with it. I walked out from behind the tree, coming to stand next to Reed. His posture mirrored mine, tense and wary, ready to take flight if need be. Without looking at me, he put my book into my hand. I didn't say thanks; I was too preoccupied with everything going on here.

The pack looked back at us, tensed as we were, but didn't seem to be looking for a fight. They looked like they were waiting for us to attack first. Finally, I got tired of it and went over to them, stretching out my hand to shake. They all looked at me curiously, waiting for me to start ripping throats. I didn't, so one of them, one that wasn't the leader, came up to me, and took my hand.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Jacob, this is the pack: Quil, Embry, Jared, Paul, Sam, Leah, and Seth. We're the Quileute protectors." Here he smiled. It looked sincere, but I couldn't tell for sure, so I remained expressionless and tense.

"My name is Artemis," I said, using my fake name. What can I say? I don't trust easily. "This is Eli."

"What's your origin?" Sam asked. I gave him a blank look, not understanding what he meant by that. "What tribe are you from?"

"I'm not from a tribe. I'm not full Native American, obviously," I said referring to my fair skin.

"Okay, which tribe were you descended from?" Jacob clarified.

"Yours," I said. "My grandfather was from this tribe."

"Do you happen to know his last name?" Sam asked.

"Uley, if I remember correctly. It was either that or something similar. It's been forever since my grandma told me the story," I answered. "Now, my question: do you intend to hurt me or my friend?"

"We don't hurt anyone but the Cold Ones. We protect people. So, if you don't hurt us, we won't hurt you," Sam said. I nodded, somehow knowing this was true.

"So…You guys are a pack?" I asked. They all nodded.

"Don't you have one?" Jacob asked.

"No," I said simply.

"So you're the lone wolf?" Seth asked. "That's got to suck." I shrugged, choosing not to answer for personal reasons.

"So, are you going to take me prisoner, or what?" I asked. "I have to get back. Some people are expecting me."

"We aren't taking you prisoner or anything, but we do want the chance to know more about you. Do you know the Quileute legends?" Jacob asked.

I shook my head. "It would be better for all of us if you didn't know a thing about me," I said. Then I paused. "What legends?"

"Maybe we can work out an understanding. If you tell us about you, we'll tell you about us and tell you the legends. Seem fair enough?" Sam asked.

"No. She's not going to tell you a thing," said Reed, who had, until this time, remained silent. I nodded in agreement.

"Okay, that's your choice. You're welcome to leave at any time," Sam said.

"Thank you," Reed said steering me toward the door, like I needed to be told to leave.

"Yeah, but you'll miss out on the legends. You'll never really know who you are," Embry said. That made me hesitate. I had always wondered why I was different from the Erasers when I phased. It didn't make sense to me. Maybe these weird Indian people could tell me the other half of who I was…maybe…

I heard Jared whisper to Quil, "Ten bucks she goes anyway."

Quil whispered back, "Deal."

"Let me talk it over with…my friends. When I know the answer, I'll be in the clearing where you first saw me. Keep someone there at all times so that you'll know," I said, and then I grabbed Reed's hand and we ran.

They didn't have time to phase and chase us before we were at the beach, taking off, and flying back towards the hotel. They hadn't followed us as we ran, but I didn't care. I needed to talk to Max and Fang quickly. This was going to be tricky, telling them the story without one of them stealing an Iggy bomb and blowing my brain out. I cursed myself the entire way back.

Reed continued to look at me as if I was going to suddenly burst into the horse-sized wolf again. I couldn't do that while flying. I'd tried before. Finally he broke my mental string of swear words to say, "So, you're a wolf?"

I nearly laughed at the casual tone he used. "I'm actually a werewolf. Well, without the whole moon affliction. I can choose when I turn, but it takes a lot of control and, as you can tell, I've never fully mastered it. They did it to me when I was at the School."

He nodded, deep in thought. "So, I'm not the only one?" I looked at him questioningly. "Not the only good human/bird/wolf freak out there. I mean, I thought I was the only one, but if you're like me, or sort of like me at least, then…well, then maybe we aren't as alone as we think we are. Or I'm not as alone as I think I am. Whatever," he babbled. I shrugged, and turned back to my swear words. "Aiva, how are you going to tell the flocks?" he asked me.

"I'm not," I said. "I'm going to show them." He nodded as though this was completely logical. I sighed. "Well, at least you're good with weird," I said to him a moment later. "I mean, most people would freak if they saw that. The stupid whitecoats had me phase in front of a wall of mirrors once, and it reminds me of how the big bad wolf from Little Red Riding Hood would have looked."

"So—what?—You think of yourself as the big bad wolf? Or rather, the big bad Aiva?" he joked.

I shrugged. "Well, I am different from everyone else. You, at least have others that are biologically the exact same as you. I, on the other wing, do not. Did you notice that none of them had wings?"

"That doesn't make you alone. I mean, we're pretty similar. What did they… well, why did they change you to be… why did the whitecoats do what they did?" he asked me. I appreciated his effort to make it sound like a decent question. I mean, _why were you made?_ doesn't particularly sound like something you want to answer, but there's really no way to put it nicely, you know what I mean?

"I was to be tested to see if I was a worthy patent…you know, see if it was worth it to make more of me. If I was worth it, then I was supposed to breed with a human, and have children to make more. I guess that they knew about these people, because otherwise the process would have taken too long. After all that, if we had enough like me, then we were meant to kill all the Erasers and become the new breed of guard dog. I don't know what they were going to call us…Pencils, maybe?" I joked without humor.

"Why didn't you take the easy way out and just follow them?" he asked me.

"After you watch someone torture your family and kill them, then there is no following them. Added to that, I'm not a murderer, and I hate taking orders. Why do you think I'm the leader?"

He smiled. "I kind of thought it was just because you were good at it, and Kari and Aly lack the certain…abilities…that leaders need. Plus you're just a strong person."

I frowned at that. "You just watched me have a major breakdown, and you're calling me _strong_?"

"Well, you aren't weak. I mean, that's what, the second time you've cried since being changed? I don't even have that good of a track record."

I looked at him. He hardly seemed to be the crying type. Then again, looks are typically very deceiving. "So, were you created to try to kill Max's flock, or mine?"

"Both really," he said, turning away to look at the ground. "They weren't really particular, as long as both jobs got done. I just wasn't supposed to kill you. After finding out why they did this to you, I see why. I couldn't have killed you anyway. Or anyone else for that matter." He looked almost ashamed of himself.

"No one can control what they were created to do, but they can control whether or not they choose to follow it through. Out of curiosity, why couldn't you have killed me, even if you were supposed to?" I asked, just having caught that part.

He shrugged. "To kill the innocent is to destroy one's soul," he said. "I don't want to land myself in Hell, if at all avoidable."

"That doesn't sound like the entire reason," I said.

He shrugged again. "It isn't, but I don't feel like getting into it right now."

Though he now had me extremely curious, I nodded, and turned away. Pretty soon, we had reached our hotel, and we flew onto our balcony, opening the door with my key. I slipped inside before him as he held the door, and he followed on my heels. "So, do you want me here, or should I leave?" he asked.

"Why would you leave?" I asked, confused.

"Well, my opinions don't count," he said.

"Well, my opinions do, and I think that yours do, so by default, yours count as well. You go get Fang, and I'll get Max," I said.

"Why do my opinions count?" he asked. "As you pointed out on the beach, I'm not a member of either flock."

"That's true, but I've made up my mind on that matter, and I'll announce it as we walk to school tomorrow."

"Really? So what's the verdict?" he asked me.

"You have to wait until tomorrow," I said, with my expression unreadable. "Not to mention, I still have to see what Aly and Kari think. I mean, if they want you in, it wouldn't be fair to not let you. Still, if they didn't want you, and I let you in, it could also cause problems."

"And you can't tell me what your vote is because…?"

"Because I'm just mean like that," I said.

"You didn't answer my other question either. Why do my opinions count?"

I shrugged. "I just don't like to see discrimination, or any form of judging someone based off of their appearance, biology …et cetera. Just because you're part wolf doesn't make you any less than anyone else…or any less than me, really…and if my opinions count, and I'm part wolf, than yours should too. That's just fairness," I said, turning to leave. "Now let's go get Max and Fang. Well, and everyone else too, and we'll meet in the girls' room."

I headed out without waiting for him to answer, and opened the door to Kari and Aly's room. Iggy and Kari were alone, sitting on Kari's bed, talking about the stupidity of Shakespeare. "I mean, you can't understand a word he says!" Iggy was saying. I shook my head, but I was glad that they were getting bonding time. Kari really did like him, and, if I wasn't mistaken, he liked her too.

"Hey, flock meeting, for both flocks. We're meeting in the girls' room. Hurry up," I said, and then shut the door behind me. I saw Reed and the guys coming out of their room, so I headed to the girls' room after them. I figured the girls were in their room.

"So what's this all about?" Max asked as I came in.

"Well, there's something that I need to tell all of you," I said. I glanced at Reed, who gave an encouraging nod. I pushed on, "Well, we all know about Reed. He has wolf DNA and bird DNA mixed into his own. Well, that's about as lucky as I am-" here Max cut me off.

"You're an Eraser?" she asked/yelled.

"No, I'm different still. I don't know what you would call me. I'll just have to show you. Reed, if you can just grab my bag out of our room?" He nodded and left. "You have to come outside, in here is a little cramped," I said. "I promise I'm not dangerous…well to you guys anyway. I won't hurt you."

Nudge grabbed Angel's hand, Angel grabbed Max's, and Gazzy got up and took Max's outstretched hand. Fang had remained silent, not unsurprisingly, and now stood, along with his flock. Alyanna and Karianne stood already, and Iggy got up from next to Karianne to stand with his flock. After this, I would talk to everyone about merging the flocks. Max agreed to follow, if we stayed within hearing distance of town, and if they could all stay back about fifteen yards and watch through the trees. This was going to be interesting, but it was a good sign that she wasn't running and taking everyone with her. I hadn't been completely upfront, but she had grown to trust me enough in the past few days. When Reed came back in, I took my bag from him and sighed. This was going to suck.

I led them out into the forest, making sure to be within hearing distance of town, and then told them to stop when we were far enough. After that, I walked on another fifteen and a half steps, and turned back. "This is it. Please don't run," I called over to them. Then I closed my eyes and phased.

**Okay, I know that it took longer than I promised, but I've been busy. I'll be even more busy now and once school starts (TWO WEEKS AWAY!), but I will try to update as much as possible. Thank you to everyone that sent reviews, and I bet none of you know what DNA stands for! :D Send a review with your best guess, and I will send a PM telling you if you are correct. Of course, if you don't review, I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy.**


	11. Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

**A/N: Okay, you officially have permission to hate me. I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating! I ran into some writer's block, and stuff, but the good news is that I'm writing now!...Yeah, you can still hate me. If I were you guys I'd hate me too….if that makes any sense at all. So, I'm going to write! HOORAY! (P.S. I have a new story as well! It's a **_**Harry Potter **_**fic called 'Purity'. Just in case you wanted to know…)**

**Chapter Eleven: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?**

**Aiva POV**

I turned around to see their expressions. Reed, who knew what was going to happen, still seemed to be slightly freaked out. Angel was smiling; she'd probably known what was about to happen because of Reed's thoughts. Karianne had been startled into grabbing Iggy's wrist and shocked so that she was unaware that she still held it. Iggy, of course, didn't know what was happening, so he paid more attention to Karianne's hand than what I was. In fact, he was the only one that was smiling. Alyanna was staring wide-eyed, and Nudge was, for once, speechless. Fang looked in mild shock, which told me he was stunned. The Gasman was looking at the older guys as if unsure of what to do. Max stood, mouth open, shocked beyond belief, but didn't seem to be mad. That was a good sign at least.

I sighed, sitting down on a dry patch of ground, and waited for one of them to approach. Tilting my head, I gestured with my nose toward Iggy, telling Angel to let him know what was going on. She didn't understand, apparently, because soon thereafter, Iggy asked what was going on.

"She's a—a—," Nudge said, eyeing me in disbelief.

"She's a werewolf," Reed finished for her, taking a step toward me.

Angel must have sent Iggy a mental image, because he suddenly exclaimed, "What the—"

"Language!" Max interjected.

"Sorry, she just looks scary. Even for our standards," Iggy explained.

The others all nodded agreement. All except for Reed, anyway. I scratched my nose with my paw, trying to ignore the sudden pain at the thought that my flock thought I was scary.

"She's not really," Reed said. "She's the exact same as she was when she was normal, she just changed her form. She's…she's really very gentle." He probably stumbled because he had witnessed me tear apart and burn a living creature, whatever it had been, though it hadn't had a heartbeat.

"She doesn't look gentle," Gazzy said.

"Really, she seems dangerous. She's a liability," Max said, slipping into her stupid leader _I'm-going-to-judge-you-before-I-even-start-to-understand-you_ mode.

"You haven't even gotten within ten feet of her!" Reed said, defensive. I felt a wave of gratitude, and wondered briefly why he seemed to be so annoyed. Then I remembered that Max had tried to do the same thing to him when all of this first started out. I had helped him, so he was probably just trying to repay me. He probably really didn't even care if I got kicked out or not.

But I knew I was kidding myself. He had to care or he wouldn't have followed me to the beach that night. He wouldn't have held me as I cried. He wouldn't have followed me after I went wolf and destroyed something. And if he didn't care, he definitely wouldn't be defending me right now. And it was at that precise moment that I realized that letting someone into my suckish world was probably less of a bad thing than I had trained myself to believe. Maybe letting Reed in would be okay, good even.

"I can tell from here. She's not safe for the flock to be around," Max growled.

"You have to give her a chance!" Reed snarled. "Talk it over with your flock. See what they think. They've gotten sort of close to Aiva and her flock, you know. They might actually have an opinion."

That seemed to faze her. It would be difficult to safely maneuver around a vote, because she couldn't claim that their opinions didn't matter, yet if she let them vote, it might not turn out the way she wanted. "I'm the leader and I know what's best for my flock. They stand behind me."

"Max, maybe we should have a vote, or at least some time to think about this rationally," Fang said.

"What?" Max half shrieked. "Do you _see_ her? You can't honestly think that it's okay for us to be around that!" _That_, not _her _just like the whitecoats said.

"She's my sister," Fang said so quietly that if it weren't for my wolf-hearing I probably wouldn't have heard him.

Max paused, apparently not able to think of anything to say. "Okay, flock meeting. Aly and Kari, if you two want to come with us, you're welcome to," she said. She shot Reed a dirty look. "But _you_ aren't."

"That's okay," he replied coldly. "I know where my loyalty lies." With that, he turned and walked to me as the others left us. When he got to me he said, "Well, that could have gone better, but it also could've gone worse."

Relieved that he had resolved to stay with me, I let my head drop so that I faced the ground. Mistaking the cause of this, he reached his hand up and stroked the side of my neck. "We'll be okay. They'll stay with us." I looked at him, my eyes reflecting everything I was thinking. "We'll be fine," he said again, for reassurance, and then he sat next to me. It was strange to have to look down at him, so I laid down and used his hand as a pillow. I felt something hit my hind leg, and lifted my head to see what it was. My tail had been wagging. Odd. I must have looked confused, because Reed followed my line of sight to my still-wagging tail and laughed. Soon I was laughing with him, only it sounded odd because I was a freaking wolf.

**Karianne POV**

Aly and I followed Max and the others far enough away so that we were out of earshot. We thought. I turned to Iggy, who was beside me, left index finger through my belt loop. "Hey Igs?" I whispered. He turned his head toward me, so I knew he was listening. "I'm sorry I grabbed your hand earlier. I just got surprised and…"

"It's okay," he whispered back, so low it was almost inaudible.

"Okay, so what is everybody thinking?" Max asked us.

"I'm staying with her," Aly said at almost the exact same time I did. Max nodded.

"I kind of expected that. Fang, what are your thoughts?"

"I think we should stay until there's proof that she's dangerous," he answered.

"You saw her—" Max started.

"And she didn't attack us. She's my sister, Max," he said. They shared a look, and understanding passed between them.

"I think we should stay," Angel said. "She's not dangerous, I read Reed's mind. She's perfectly safe. He's with her right now, all alone, and she's just laying there."

"Are you sure sweetie?" Max asked. Angel nodded.

"If Angel says it's safe, I think we should stay. I mean, Aly and Kari are staying, and I really like Aiva, and we're all getting to be good friends, and so I think we should stay because they're the only friends we really have besides our mom and Ella, and so why would we want to lose them? Aiva loves us, so I really don't think she would ever try to hurt us, no matter what. I really want to stay, Max," Nudge rambled, but kept it to a minimum, which was good.

"I'm with Nudge and Angel," Gazzy said.

"That leaves my vote, which we all know is a no, and Iggy's vote. Iggy?" Max said almost pleadingly.

"I think we should all be on our guard when we're around her in her wolf form, but I really want to stay. It's not really so much that I trust Aiva, and it's not for our safety, I just really think that it would be stupid to throw what could have been away," he said.

"Um…okay?" Max said, finding his answer odd. "So that makes it definite. We're staying, even though I don't like it. We're going to stay on guard though, like Iggy said."

We started moving back toward where we had left Aiva and Reed. Iggy and I trailed behind the group, and I spoke in a soft voice, "I'm really glad you get to stay with us."

"I'm glad too," he said quietly.

"What did you mean by what you said?" I asked him. "What did you mean by 'throwing away what could have been'?"

"I just meant that, well, I mean…It would be stupid to lose you and Aly. I mean, I feel like we're really starting to connect. And we've all really kind of started connecting with your flock, you know?" he explained.

"Oh, yeah, I get it," I said, disappointed. I'd kind of been hoping that he would say it meant that he didn't want to lose me because we could have had something together.

We found Aiva and Reed lying/sitting next to a tree laughing their butts off. I raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything more. I didn't trust my voice. Iggy could tell when something was wrong, and I didn't want to make him upset, too.

**Aiva POV**

They came back into the clearing, Iggy and Karianne trailing behind. Kari looked disappointed, and I wondered briefly what that was about before I stood up on all fours, and awaited the answer with Reed at my side. His hand was on my neck again, still in a slightly protective way. It felt odd, but at the same time, comforting.

"They voted to stay, so against my better jugement, we're staying," Max announced. I felt my face split into a huge doggy-grin. I picked up my bag in my mouth and headed behind a tree to phase back. I heard Reed corralling them a safe distance away so that no one would see anything that shouldn't be seen.

I put on a black Evanescence T-shirt and dug in my bag for shorts before I realized that the ones that I had ripped in order to phase had been my last clean pair, so the rest of them were in the hotel. Crap. I didn't have any jeans with me either, so I was left to a black denim mini skirt Nudge had got Max that had somehow found its way into my bag. Double crap. Swallowing my distaste, I pulled it on, realizing that it was shorter than I had originally thought it to be. Triple crap. It came halfway between my mid-thigh and my butt. I looked like a slut. It didn't help that the shirt fit me snugly either. I resolved to go shopping soon.

I walked back out from behind the tree, unhappily, but confidently. I walked right into the hugs of Aly and Kari, and moved on to the hugs of Nudge and Angel and Gazzy. I nodded at Max and Fang as I hugged Gazzy, before I heard Iggy say plaintively, "Where's my hug?" Rolling my eyes, I went on tip-toe in order to reach my arms around his neck. I glanced at Max and Fang as I went to stand by Reed. He smiled as I did so, and I couldn't help but hug him, too.

"I told you so," he said. I rolled my eyes and play-punched him in the shoulder.

"Okay, can we go back to the hotel now?" I asked. "It's cold, and I forgot my jacket." Max nodded, and she and Fang took off, followed by Nudge and Gazzy, Angel and Aly, then Iggy and Nudge. I was about to take a running start when Reed draped his jacket over my shoulders and leapt into the air without a word. I looked up at him, smiled, even though he wasn't looking at me, and pushed my arms through the sleeves, drawing it closely around myself. I took off last, flying quickly to catch up with everyone else. Iggy and Kari flew behind, and suddenly Iggy went down. I stopped.

"We'll only be a few minutes! You guys go ahead; we'll catch up!" Kari called to me. I nodded, turning to go ahead, wondering what that was all about.

**Karianne POV**

I touched down after Iggy, and touched his shoulder to let him know where I was, though I knew that he probably already knew. "So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked him.

"I didn't really want to stay with Aiva. The whole wolf thing really freaked me out," he said.

"Oh, um…okay…" I said, not really sure how to handle this. "I think that you might change your mind the longer you're around—"

"That's not my problem," he said.

"Oh," I said, feeling my brow furrow. "Then what is?"

"Ask the obvious question," he said. I didn't say anything, not knowing what he was talking about. "If I didn't want to stay then why did I say I did?" he said, leading me to ask.

"Oh…um…I didn't think of that. Why did you say you wanted to stay then?" I asked.

"Because I really didn't want to leave you," he said.

I blinked hard in surprise. "What?"

"I said I wanted to stay so that I could be with you. Kari, when I'm with you…it's different," he said, frowning.

"Oh," I said as though it made sense. Then I paused. "Wait, is that a good thing?" I asked.

"I think it is," he half asked/half said. "I mean, it's more than different, it's special. Kari..."

"Yes?" I asked, taking a step closer to him.

"Kari, I think…Kari, I love you," he said.

All of my love for him overwhelmed me, and I pressed my lips to his without thinking, wrapping my arms around his neck. He kissed back and slid his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. After I don't know how long, we broke apart. I leaned back against the tree behind me, smiling.

"So, do you want to go to the movies Friday night?" Iggy asked me.

"Do you want to kiss me again?" I asked him.

His lips found mine and we stayed there, kissing for what felt like a few seconds but what ended up being thirty minutes. "We'd better go," I said. "There's just one question."

He looked at a spot just over my head. "What's that?"

"How are we going to tell the flocks?"

"We'll worry about that when we get back," he said. Then we flew together to the hotel, me flying directly above him so that we could hold hands.

**A/N: Okay, so there it was! REVIEW MY DEARIES! I'm tired. I need three reviews, but if you don't review, I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy. UNTIL NEXT CHAPTER, MY LOVLIES!**


	12. Tough Stuff

**A/N: As some of you might have noticed, I got a flame last chapter. Here's the thing, whoever you are: I am not James Patterson. I don't write the way that he does. My writing features a different heroine along with another band of hybrids. If you don't like it, don't read it. I'm not going to be offended by that. I **_**will**_**, however, take offence to what you posted to my story. Now, if you would like to do such things as copy and paste and tell me what's wrong with it in a respectful way, that's fine. But I absolutely refuse to be cussed at when I read a review of a story that I spent a lot of time working on. This is my first fanfic, I've done what I could trying to mesh together a story by JP and a story by Stephanie Meyer (which is not easy to do), and if you think that it sucks, I'm not making you read it. **

**As for the rest of my wonderful readers, I apologize that you had to read that, but it goes for anyone who wishes to send something like that. Anywho, I also got some very positive reviews, so I'm going to continue because of everyone who does like the story. So, without any further distractions, on to the next chapter!**

**Chapter Twelve:**

**Aiva POV**

"I wonder where they are," Aly said for the third time in the last ten minutes.

"Aly! They will get back when they get back, okay?" I said, annoyed. "Just shut up for two seconds so that I can finish my blog post."

"But Aiva! We don't know where they are, and they might be hurt! What if they're hurt?" she asked, looking worried.

"Calm down, they're big kids. They can handle themselves. We'll give them another ten minutes and then we'll go after them. Does that make you feel better, Aly?" I asked, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. She nodded. "Okay then," I said. I set the laptop back down, looking at Fang. "You need it?" I asked him.

He shrugged and then nodded. I got up and gave it to him before I sat back down nest to Alyanna and I snuggled into the couch with blankets covering every part of my body except my face. I was cold. It happens to the best of us. Reed came into the room from ours holding two cups of steaming liquid. I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"It's coffee. You want some?" he asked, handing me a cup. "I put in three things of sugar, but I don't know. It's a little sweet." I took a sip.

"It's exactly the way I like it. You even got the creamer right," I added, drinking more. "Are none of you cold?" I asked to the room in general.

"If you hadn't been wearing that skirt flying home in thirty-five degree weather, then you wouldn't be cold either. We're just smarter than you," Iggy said, walking into the room, Karianne's hand incased in his own. I raised my eyebrows at her. She looked down, blushed, and pulled her hand out of his. I smirked.

"Sure, we'll go with that. Now, I find it obvious why you went down before the rest of us," I said, looking at Kari through narrowed eyes. "But explain anyway."

"Well, see, it's like this…Really, it's kind of a funny story," she started.

"We went down. I kissed her. Now we're here, and we're going out Friday night," Iggy said.

I turned to Kari. "Is this true?" I asked her pointedly. She nodded looking afraid that I was going to slap her. I stood looking at her for a second, glanced at him, then back to her. "And you didn't tell me you liked him sooner, because…?" I asked, giving her a hug. "I'm happy for you."

"You're not mad?" she said, wide-eyed as she hugged me back.

"Seems to me a little more than stupid to be mad at you for something that's making you happy for the first time in…how long? Just don't be all over each other all the time. It looks bad. Other than that, do what you please," I said, pulling back and going to hug Iggy. "Honestly I don't know why you would be afraid to tell me."

"I don't know. I just thought you'd be mad. Like, because it's something that could mess with our chances of survival or whatever it is that you normally say," Karianne said, scooting over next to Iggy, who put his arm around her.

"No. Not at all. Love isn't something you can control. It's just something that happens. Nothing to be afraid or ashamed of. Nothing that could possibly threaten anyone's survival. It's a beautiful thing. Just be happy," I said, rolling my eyes at her. I looked at Max. "Wouldn't you agree?"

She and Fang had been looking at each other, and she now quickly turned away from the silent conversation. She nodded. "If you're happy guys, I'm all for it," she said. Iggy's shoulders relaxed, though I hadn't even noticed that they'd been tense. "Just…well, you guys know the basics. Be safe."

"Oh, _Max_! God!" Kari said, her face turning bright red, and hid behind her hands. Iggy just blushed and muttered something that sounded like, "okay."

"Well, in that case, I say that we all go to bed. I'm so tired that it's not even funny, and—oh, _what_, Reed?" I said. He had been poking my arm and shaking his head no.

"You need to tell them about what we found. Quileutes?" he prompted when I didn't follow quickly enough. Oh. Right.

"Okay, so we found a bunch of these guys… they're Quileutes, and they're the werewolf group… the ones that change the way that I do. I don't know much about them, but it didn't seem like they were going to hurt us, and they offered a deal so that I could know more about who I am. Or well, what I am, rather. But the point is, if I tell them a little bit about us, then they'll tell me about them. So I was wondering what you guys might think of letting me go and tell them just a _little_ bit?" I babbled, feeling like Nudge.

"Absolutely not!" Max said, just as Karianne said, "You met Jacob?"

"Yes, Kari, dear. Why, Max? I mean, I get the whole survival bit, but if I can't fully control everything, then how are we going to survive anyway? I _need_ this," I said, hearing the pleading in my voice, but also not being able to stop it.

"But you can control everything. We saw it in the woods," Max said.

"I need to know who I am. Maybe if I learned more, I could fight like that. It would help…" she cut me off.

"What you are isn't chained directly to who you are," Max said firmly.

"Yeah, but it accounts for a great deal of it!" I snarled. "What if you come with me and keep me from saying anything too much? Would that work?"

"I doubt it."

"Max! You don't know what it's like! Okay? You just don't! I'm different from all of you in a way that you can't even begin to understand. Yeah, I have wings, I'm super strong, fast, smart. But I'm as heavy as a normal person. My bones aren't as different from regular people's as yours are. I change into a freaking wolf! Completely change! I'm even different from the Erasers! I have you guys, and you're the same as the bird part of me, so I can always ask a question if I don't understand what I am. I don't have that luxury with my wolf side. Reed can't answer my questions! We're not the same! I need to understand why I'm different. I need _answers_, Max! You don't know what it's like to be different, even from a flock of mutant bird kids…" I felt a tear fall onto my cheek. Crap. I swiped roughly at my eyes, and turned away to face the mirror.

After a pause, I turned back around to look at her. "I need this, Max."

She looked at me, startled, and glanced at Fang. Finally she nodded. "Okay. I'll go with you. Reed, Fang, and everyone else will stay here."

I smiled. "Thank you, Max," I said, and hugged her.

"You're welcome," she said into my hair.

I pulled back, embarrassed by the entire scene and went to bed.

**~xXx~**

**Aiva POV**

_Everyone is staring at me, _I thought. And they were. One was even gawking at me, but his face was in the shadows so I couldn't make out much more about his features. There was, apparently, a new werewolf there, and that made about ten of them versus me. The one in shadows finally leaned forward and it was Reed. He pointed and suddenly the group of werewolves was no longer werewolves. They attacked me, now changing into Erasers. Reed laughed at my attempts to get free from their grasp. I felt myself scream, and went down under the Erasers. They ripped at my body, tearing my skin, I felt my own blood pouring out of me, and then Reed was ripping me apart, too. I woke up right as he ripped apart my throat.

My bed was the same in the hotel, dispite the fact that I was tangled in the blankets. Reed was asleep next to me. If I focused, I could hear Kari and Aly breathing in the next room over. I put a hand to my throat and swallowed. It had just been a dream. For now, everyone was fine.

"Are you okay, Aiva?" Reed asked, looking at me. He was in wolf form, but that didn't bother me.

"Yeah, I just…um…" I trailed off as I noticed the look in his eye. It could only be described as wicked, but I blamed that on the fact that he was in wolf form. "I just had a nightmare." I finished. "I'm going to go check on Aly and Kari one last time."

He smiled, and it looked positively evil, though it was probably just the darkness. "Sure, Aiva. Just come back soon. I want to talk to you. And it's kind of…well…important, I guess is the word you would use," he said. I nodded and went to Aly and Kari's room. Using the spare key to their room, I opened the door.

Kari lay awake reading, while Aly was snoring lightly. I half smiled tiredly at Aly, and gave Kari an exasperated look. "Lights out," I mouthed. She held up her outstretched hand with a sheepish expression, silently asking for five more minutes. I rolled my eyes and gave a jerk to my head, silently giving her the "well, if you must". She grinned and continued to read. I sighed and walked back to my room to find Reed gone. I looked around, but he was nowhere to be found. I looked in the bathroom, and finally checked the balcony. No sign of him. I figured that he must have gone to the beach again, so I lied down and tried to go back to sleep, but found it a restless night, and tossed and turned almost all the way through.

**~xXx~**

**Aiva POV**

I awoke again at four in the morning, just as I was falling asleep. I'd heard Reed's voice. I rubbed sleep out of my eyes to greet the voice that I had come to know and trust, but something was off. He wasn't in my room. He was in the boys'. I focused hard for a minute, listening, and then sprang from my bed, rushing out of the my room's door. Something wasn't right. Slamming into the boys' room after using the key to open the door, I realized that that was a massive understatement. Something was, indeed, not right. In fact, something was very, _very_, wrong.

**A/N: I'm **_**so**_** sorry. Don't eat me! It's not my fault! I've just been so busy! School's insane! Excuses, I know, but still, they're true! Loyal fans, don't shun me now! I really am sorry! This time, I won't even ask for reviews. This time, I'm going to beg **_**you**_** not to appear next to **_**my**_** bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make **_**my**_** brains go splat all over **_**my**_** walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE **_**UPDATED MORE OFTEN**_**' in **_**my**_** blood on the wall. **_**Please, don't be**_** that creepy.**


	13. Happy Ending

**A/N: Yeah, I hate me, too.**

**Chapter Thirteen: ****Happy Ending**

**Fang POV**

I wasn't really awake. I wasn't really asleep either. It was that in-between state where you can hear what's going on around you, but you can't force your eyes open either. Iggy had snuck into Karianne's room earlier, and I had kept quiet. Even though he's a pervert sometimes, he wouldn't really do anything with her. I know because during that time when it was just us guys, he had admitted it to me. He wasn't really into the idea of being with a girl for her body. Which was a good thing for Kari, I guess. It's definitely a good thing for the rest of us. It prevents a flying bird baby produced by lack of safty.

I had no idea why I was thinking about this. I really didn't care. I just wanted some freaking sleep. It was around 3:30 in the morning. I'd heard Aiva talking to Reed around one, I thought. He'd gotten up and left, I'm assuming to take a flight. I still couldn't believe Aiva was my sister. She looked exactly like me, but it was still hard to believe. I had thought my mother was a teenager when I was born, but according to her, she'd been twenty-six and our dad was twenty-eight. She'd told me stories about them, and I think she'd even seen past my blankness. I really do want to know about them. I want to know about her, too. Some part of me, though it's odd, feels like I need to protect her. I think it's because she's the only blood family that I have left. I wonder about our little sister. I wish I'd had the chance to meet her. Maybe she was like Nudge, or maybe more like Angel. I really hope she wasn't though. Angel is getting to be creepy.

I don't know what went wrong in that child's brain recently. Her weirdness is really starting to worry Max. And why wouldn't it? Max raised her to be a lot less creepy than she is. Max was a great mom to her. She's a great mom to all of them. All of them but me, anyway. She's kind of like a sister to Iggy sometimes, and some days I wonder if maybe she seems like that toward Nudge, too, but she's always been my best friend. I've never really thought about her like a sister. Sometimes, when I know Angel's asleep, I can think what I really think about her. I can think about how beautiful she is, and the way that she sees right through me. I can think about how much I love the way she is around the kids, the way her voice is soft as her feathers when she sings the kids a lullaby when Angel asks. I can try to figure out exactly what I'm feeling about her. She's not a sister or mother to me. She never has been. She's most definitely not a best friend anymore either, but she runs away when I kiss her. Which doesn't make sense because she kissed me first. I swear sometimes, I could strangle myself with the knots that my thoughts tie around me.

I give up, and pull myself up from bed. I can't keep obsessing over it. It drives me crazy. I don't understand her like I used to, and yet, I understand more than anyone else. I needed to talk to her. I needed to figure stuff out with her. And I would have, too. If it weren't for freaking Reed barreling into the window of my room at four-ish in the morning. I kept my face blank and looked at him, waiting for him to say something, but he struck out at Gazzy and put him in a chokehold. Crap.

"Now, little birdie, I'm going to leave with this one, and you're going to go back to sleep and not tell anyone until morning. Otherwise, the cute little mutant here dies," he snarled.

"Reed," I started, but before I could do anything, the door to my room burst open, and I ducked as Aiva came flying over me, literally, and gave Reed a flying punch to the face, causing his head to snap back and hit the wall and his features to return to normal as he went unconscious. Wow, she knocked him out in one punch. I'd have to remember how she did that. Immediately she landed and pulled a roll of duct tape off her wrist. I grabbed Gazzy to make sure he was okay. Then everybody was running in, and Aiva wasn't answering any of them, but she gave Ig and Kari a look when she saw them both enter from Kari's room together. They'd have some explaining to do.

Then Max, with that incredible, indestructible look on her face, walked over to Aiva and asked, "What the he-eck just happened?"

Aiva looked at her sadly, handing her the roll of duct tape. "You were right about him. I was completely wrong. I thought he was different, but I guess not. I'll question him when he wakes up, and then take care of him. I'll be back later," with almost no effort, she picked up Reed's huge body and slung him over her shoulder, spreading her wings and leaping onto the balcony. "And Max?...I'm sorry."

**Aiva POV**

I felt hot tears prickle behind my eyes, but shook my head and cleared them away. Flying with Reed on my shoulder wasn't easy—I was just too numb to feel how hard it was. I didn't care. What I did care about was that I had let someone in. I had trusted someone. That person had wanted to turn in someone I cared about. That person had betrayed me. I hated him now, I decided. Only, that wasn't really true. I hated myself for believing his bull crap, for allowing myself to trust and think that maybe a relationship was possible. As leader, any relationship with anyone was out of the question to start with, let alone someone that I had now found out wanted to kill me.

I now wondered if I even wanted a flock. How long could I trust Aly and Kari? Then I shook that thought away. They weren't the ones that had hurt me. Soon enough, I found a clearing close to the ocean but far enough away from it that no one would find us. I set Reed against a tree and then sat down across from him, wondering how I had let myself become so incredibly vulnerable. I had really begun to like him…I had actually wanted to possibly be with him. Now that was an impossibility. But I should have known that would happen. Happy endings don't happen to freaks like me.

I stared at him until he woke up, which was about fifteen minutes after I'd found the clearing, barely noticing the rain that had started to fall. He admitted to having lied to me. He had simply wanted to be recognized as the best, the one that had returned the bird freaks. He hadn't given them our location, but he had been about to. I'll spare you all the gory details. I needed to protect my flock, and the only way to do that was to get rid of a traitor. It wasn't that I wanted to do it at all. I'm not some cold-blooded killer. It killed me to have to kill him, especially since I had grown to almost love him, but it had to be done, and Max wasn't the type to kill if she could avoid it.

I cried as I did it.

I cried as I made it seem like he'd fallen into a ravine and simply hit his head.

I cried as I flew home.

But it was for the best. I knew when I saw the flocks packing when I got back.

**Max POV**

As soon as Aiva had left with Reed, I'd had the flocks start getting ready. She said she'd be back soon, and we'd need to be ready to move. I had just finished packing and started helping Nudge fit all of her clothes into her pack when Aiva came back into our room throught the balcony door. She was soaked, her black hair streaking over her shoulders in a tangled, dripping mess. Her eyes were red from water, and she had blood spattered on her shirt and arms, though there wasn't much left because of the rain.

"So?" I prompted.

"So what? He was faking to further his rank. He didn't tell anyone where we were, and he's not going to be coming back to haunt us," she told me.

"How can you be sure?" I asked, thinking that she might have just let him go on his word.

"I told you I'd take care of him," Aiva said, walking toward the door to the hallway. "We can stay here if you guys want. I'm all for it."

"How did you take care of him?" I asked, noticing the significance of the blood on her.

"Reed is dead," she said, her words emotionless, far to matter-of-fact to not be creepy. "I killed him." She paused at the door. "You can tell everyone else, Max. I'm going to go wash his blood off of me." Then Aiva was gone.

I turned to Nudge, who looked up at me, shocked. "Start unpacking," I told her. She nodded, keeping quiet for once.

**Aiva POV**

After stripping my clothes, I turned the water on as hot as it would go and stepped into the shower. The hot water burned against my freezing skin, but I didn't care. I had tossed out all of Reed's stuff before I'd gotten in the shower. Thinking about the unnatural way I'd bent his neck and the sickening popping sound I'd heard, I nearly threw up. That was okay though. Kari and Aly were safe, and that was all that mattered. Leaning my head against the wall of the shower, I cried some more. Once I got out of the shower, I slipped on my pajamas, which (that night) consisted of a shirt three sizes too big and a pair of boxers. After checking on Aly and Kari and everyone else, I collapsed into bed, too tired to fight sleep.

That night, in my sleep, I realized that I'd lied to Max. Reed may not haunt the rest of them, but he'd certainly haunt me for the rest of my life.

**A/N: So yeah, chainsaws are nice. :-)**


	14. The World Is Evil

**A/N: I'd like to point this out. Aiva could take Reed (yes, it was the real Reed, btw) out because she has the extra strength of the bird kids, plus the werewolf, plus she was angry. I had someone ask me that, so I thought I'd tell everyone. :) I'm sorry I'm terrible. I know I am. But I love you guys! Plus, I think it's only fair to say that I thought I posted this chapter last night, but it didn't post and the chapter deleted itself :( Suckishness, right? Right. ON TO THE STORY!**

**Chapter Fourteen: The World Is Evil**

**Kari POV**

After Aiva came back and we found out that everything was alright from Max, I went to talk to Iggy in his room. The other guys were in Max's room, so I sat down right next to him where he was laying on his bed.

"Hey, sweetie," I said, brushing my hand along his cheek. He smiled.

"Hey, Kari." He shifted over so that I had room to lie down. I did so happily, snuggling into his chest. "So, about Reed…"

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, having suspected Aiva of liking him. Instead, I said, "So did you ever finish our chemistry homework?"

"Um, Kari, in case you haven't noticed, I'm blind. I kind of can't read the questions," he muttered, kissing my hair.

"Oh yeah! I'm sorry, sometimes… Well, it's just so easy to forget. I mean, you don't seem like… what I mean… Oh, screw it," I said, things not coming out the way I wanted them to.

He kind of laughed at me, and then kissed my forehead and down to my cheek. "I know what you mean. I'm just so _competent_ for a blind freak, right?"

"No! That's not what I—" But he was already kissing me, so I decided that the conversation wasn't important and just went with it.

**~xXx~**

**Nudge POV**

So the world is evil and we were headed to school the morning after the Reed incident. I didn't think Aiva had slept. She looked worn out. She hadn't bothered to do her makeup or hair today either. It was in the sloppiest bun I had ever seen. Her eyes were puffy and there were bags under them (this was why I thought she hadn't slept). She stared straight ahead, not smiling or talking or being leaderly or doing anything at all. Aiva was completely dead. As Christie would say, it was like she had a Potato Virus. The rest of us were upset, but it seemed to hit her the hardest.

At least no one could discover that my grief over Reed was really just my despair over having to go to school. I think I would have given anything to not have to go. I didn't want to see Jose, or Dwayne, or Louis. They were barbaric. I drug behind the group a little as we made our way to school, thinking about all the ways I could get out of gym class. Or the rest of my classes that Jose, Dwayne, and Louis were in. So far I had nothing.

At the doors, I separated from the rest of the flock, heading to my first period, Computer Tech. I sat down quietly, noticing that the jerks weren't there. They were probably late. This made me relax a little more, and I turned on the computer and got it ready for class, as all the other kids were doing. Mr. Garcia had already started class when they came in, all three of them, with unexcused tardy slips in hand. I turned to my computer screen quickly, trying to look busy by following the instructions Mr. Garcia had just finished giving, but it was useless. As they walked by, Jose's hand ran along my back and he popped my bra strap. I panicked there for a second, wondering if he had felt my wings, but he didn't seem like, he had, so I started to freak about him popping my bra. After we did a bunch of typing, which I finished early, we were set to do a PowerPoint on something that mattered to us.

While I was working, the guys were throwing paper wads at me. I ignored them until I couldn't stand it anymore, and reached down to pick them all up. I uncrumpled them one at a time and laid them in a pile on my keyboard in front of me. The first of seventeen said, 'Meet me behind the school and I'll do more than just pop the strap'. There was another with worse stuff about my skirt. Then fallowed one about how they were going to rip me apart. I read all of them, slowly and methodically, without showing much emotion, as I'd learned from Fang. The last one said, 'Your body is just Freshmeat', and under it there was a picture of a naked girl and three guys with their hands all over her. I swallowed, biting my lip, and then stuffed the papers into my bag. No one needed to see them.

The bell rang soon after I finished the PowerPoint. I ran out of the class and right into Jan. "Sorry," I said. "Just trying to avoid them." She nodded, knowing who I was talking about easily.

"It's fine. Let's go find Christie," she said, heading quickly to Christie's locker with me right next to her. But when we got there, Christie was across the hall, being held against the wall by Dwayne and Louis while Jose stood in front of her, glaring at her and holding her by the shoulders. She looked terrified. Before I could even remember that I was afraid of them and what they had threatened to do to me, I was across the hall, pulling Jose away from Chris by the elbow.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled.

"Or what, Freshmeat?" he asked, pushing me. Dwayne and Louis came to back him up with echoes of "Yeah, or what?"

Well, the truth was, I didn't know what. I looked at Christie, who was now with Jan, watching. Both looked sympathetic and scared. I looked up at them defiantly, trying to look braver than I felt. "Keep bothering us and you'll see," I snarled, knowing we were starting to draw attention.

Jose laughed loudly. He leaned in close to me and said, "Or maybe you'll be the one to see something, Julliette." His next words chilled me to the bone. "I know that sometime soon I'll be seeing a lot more of you. See you in World History."

They walked around me, all of them purposefully smacking into my shoulders. I made my way back over to Jan and Chris. "Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" Chris said the second I reached them. "I didn't know what to do! I was so scared, and then you were right there and I was safe and I'm so happy! Thank you so much, Julli!"

"It's no big deal, Chris. Let's just hurry and get to class or we'll be late," I said. We almost ran to second period, where we had a quiz on one of Shakespeare's Sonnets and "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. After that class, was my easyish Algebra class and Dwayne missed it again. Then came lunch. It was boring and quiet with the flock, so I spaced out during most of it, and then it ended and we headed to the different classes we had. We did a huge twenty-five page packet in World History, doing maps that displayed countries, the religions located there, and the elevations, along with questions that went along with the book lessons. I finished it as best as I could, working as well as I could with the guys whispering things to me and setting notes on my desk, and touching me. I turned in my paper a little later than the others, but it was complete at least. I ran out of that class, too.

In sixth period I aced a pop quiz and flew through my homework (no pun intended). After a few minutes of dreading gym, the bell rang and I headed that way. I almost ran into the locker room, and then I changed slowly, waiting until there were only two people left in there to come out. We were playing dodge ball today. Jose and I got to pick teams. I picked Jan, he picked Dwayne, I picked Chris, and he picked Louis, and so on.

I found that I was the three guys' main target, but I dodged well, and I even got Dwayne and Louis out. By the end of the game, it was only Jose and I left standing. He threw the ball he was holding at me, it hit me squarely in the chest, but I caught it and picked up another ball from the floor at my feet. I threw the first, and as he was dodging that one, threw the other so that he had no time to react and it hit him in the stomach. My team ran down from the bleachers to congratulate me and celebrate for a few minutes before we went to the locker rooms and changed. As I walked by, Jose grabbed my butt. I twisted away and ran back into the locker rooms. God, I hated that jerk.

After that, I ran by my locker and grabbed my stuff to go home. I walked quickly to the elementary school, not encountering the guys on my way there. That was just as well. I didn't want to know what he meant by me seeing something. I just wanted to go back to the hotel.

**Aiva POV**

School had sucked. It was just because everyone wanted to know where Reed had gone, and we had to explain that he had gone back to live with our parents because he didn't want to go to a public school. Everybody accepted this easily, and the office workers and teachers easily accepted his transfer sheet. When we got back to the hotel, I practiced my heart out on my audition pieces and worked and worked on my homework. I had kind of sleep-walked through school. I hadn't wanted to face life or anything. It was all just too fresh to comprehend. All of the teachers had been compassionate about my family member moving away, so they understood about me being so spaced out. Yeah, right.

Tonight was the night of the wolf pack meeting thing. Max and I left there early, heading to the meeting place. On the way, I moved Reed from his hiding place where he lay, having apparently fallen to his death, and flew him to the sea, where I let a huge current carry him out to sea. He wouldn't be back, and I wouldn't be seeing him again. Max looked at me, and for the first time, it seemed that she truly accepted me.

"Aiva, I'm sorry," she said, letting her wing brush against mine on the down stroke. I felt my eyes blurring, tears beginning to form. Gosh, I was turning into a freaking water faucet lately.

"Yeah, me too," I choked out. "I'm sorry I brought him here, I thought he was good. I wanted him to be good…" A tear fell. I swiped my eyes hard.

"I know. Deep down, I think we all did," she said. "But you know, at least we found out this way instead of the we-get-captured way. It could have been so much worse."

"Yeah," I said, thinking of Ali and Kari, "Yeah, it could've been. Let's go. They'll be waiting for us, and you don't want to piss off a werewolf."

**A/N: Now that school is almost over and it's not totally kicking my butt anymore, I can write more! HOORAY FOR THAT! So, you know what comes next, right? Of course you do! Three reviews my pretties! If you don't, I guess I won't appear next to your bedside with a chainsaw in hand ready to make your brains go splat all over your walls and then write 'YOU SHOULD HAVE REVIEWED' in your blood on the wall. No, I'm not that creepy.**


	15. Alpha

**A/N: So I haven't written on this in forever. I kind of lost interest. But here it is, finally, after like a year. Sorry about that, dears :-/ It was not intentional. But whatever. Onto the story!**

**Chapter Fifteen: Alpha**

**Aiva POV**

I grimaced as I landed, kicking up more dirt than was necessary. Max didn't want to be here. I had known she wouldn't. But it was a necessary evil for me. Max landed next to me, putting on her best "I'm-going-to-kick-your-ass-now" face. I left mine blank. It wasn't long after—maybe two minutes—before the wolves showed up. Not all of them came. Jacob, Seth, and Sam were the only ones. Sam and Jacob looked tense, but were taking nonthreatening postures, complete with tense smiles. Seth, on the other hand, was obviously comfortable with the situation, and genuinely smiled as he came to shake hands with us. I gave a dry smile back to him as I shook his hand.

"Good to see you again," he said, then directed, "and nice to meet you," as he offered his hand to Max. Max grunted by way of reply and didn't take his hand, instead choosing to cross her arms over her chest.

After an awkward silence, Jacob said, "Well, if you wouldn't mind introducing us to your friend, we could start getting to know each other." It kind of came out a question at the end.

"Well, I'm Artemis, if you remember, but I go by Elaine. This is Katie," I said, glancing at Max.

"It's nice to meet you, Katie," Sam said, nodding respectfully.

"So, what do you want to know?" she asked, getting to the point.

"Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you here? For starters," Jacob said like it should be obvious.

"I just told you who we are," I replied, in an equally "Gosh-you're-dumb" kind of voice.

"We're from a lot of places," Max answered. "We're here because we want to be."

"Okay… I guess what we want to know is do you pose any threat to us while you're here? Do you have any enemies that would possibly come after any of us?" Sam asked.

Max and I exchanged glances. "Why? Are you used to having to deal with enemies?" I asked, carful to dance around the question. The other members of the pack were showing up now, melting out of the woods almost as Fang sometimes seemed to.

"Do we need to be for some reason?" Jacob asked. Oh, good play, my muscle-y shirtless shapeshifter.

"What are the Cullens?" I asked abruptly. "They don't much like me." I had no idea why I said that, but it caught all of them off guard. They glanced nervously at each other, none of them gracing my craziness with answers. "They're vampires, aren't they? That's why you're around. To protect everyone from vampires."

Max looked at me like I'd grown a third big toe—right out of my forehead. "Yes… How do you know? I thought you'd never heard the legends." Jacob asked.

"I haven't. I don't know how I know. Yes, we have enemies, but they don't know where we are, and I don't think that they're going to be finding out anytime soon."

"So, the only threat to us is when there's a threat to you?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Max said. "But that won't be for a very long while, if we're lucky."

"So, are there more of you?" Quil asked, more curious than anything, I thought.

"Before I answer that, are you any threat to us?" I asked.

"We don't want to hurt you," Sam said. "Just the opposite. You're a lost member of our tribe. A sister. We want to help, protect, or aid you in any way possible."

"I'm flattered by that, really," I said. "I just don't know if I can trust you. I mean, not to be rude, but I've been lied to too many times before by people that just wanted to 'help.' The question is: Are you like the others, or are you telling the truth?"

"My money's on that you're lying," Max said. "Not because I have something personal against you, but really just because my luck always tips toward the bad end of the scale."

"So how do we convince you?" Embry asked. "I mean, it's not like you can read our thoughts."

Max and I exchanged glances again, finding humor as we thought about Angel. I smirked and then shrugged.

"Maybe, if you wanted to, you could join our pack," Sam said. "We can kind of read each others' minds, but it only works in the pack. If you joined, you could see it yourself."

I glanced at Max out of the corner of my eye. "I'm not so sure about that. What are the obligations?" I asked.

"You'll have to follow Sam's leadership. He's the Alpha," Jacob said. "And, because he's the Alpha, you have to obey his orders. He won't do anything ridiculous, so you don't have to worry."

"And how do we know that the second she joins, you won't simply order her to tell you more about us?" Max voiced my thoughts.

"You don't," Seth said. "But that's the fun part."

"I don't find not knowing to be fun. I find it both irritating and annoying. So how about you tell me the legends first? If you have nothing to hide?" I asked, smirking. "Then I'll tell you my story."

Sam and Jacob looked at each other. Jacob raised an eyebrow. "We'll have to call a bonfire… You can bring the rest of you," Sam said.

"Why do we have to have a bonfire?" Max asked.

"It's just traditional with our tribe," Jacob said. "Are there any other lost members with you?"

"No," Max answered. "It's just her." I nodded, then looked over at her as a thought occurred to me. I tapped her hand once to let her know I'd need to talk to her. And soon.

"So, are you like, going to school at Forks High?" Seth asked.

"Yeah," I said, caught off guard. "Do you all go there?"

"No, we go to school here on the Rez. Forks High is outside our turf," he explained.

"That and there aren't any random mutts there," Leah said, glaring over at me. "Only purebreds," she added, seeming way too proud of her pedigree.

I smirked. "Watch it princess. You might be the alpha bitch, but that can be changed."

"Ten on Artemis," Quil muttered to Jared.

"You're on," he said, glancing at both me and Leah.

"I could take you," she said, taking a step forward.

"Leah, stop it!" Sam yelled. Leah stood still, glaring at him. She turned away and stalked off into the woods without another word. Sam turned back to us. "You'll have to excuse her, she's… temperamental."

"Obviously," Max said, looking at me.

I smirked. I could've taken her. Wolf form, or otherwise. "No biggie. She seemed like she just wanted a fight," I said.

"Yeah, well that's just Leah," Jacob said, rolling his eyes at the woods she disappeared into. "She's pretty much good for nothing else."

"You mean she's a good fighter?" Max asked, shocked.

"No, I mean she's good for stirring up useless fights," Jacob replied.

I rolled my eyes. "So, about this bonfire… Where, when, and who is coming?"

"Meet us here on Saturday night, and we'll bring you there. You're group of people can come, and the whole pack will be there, plus our tribe's Council," Sam said.

I nodded. "Okay. I'll be there." Max nodded as well.

"Okay, well then, goodbye until then," Sam said, smiling.

I nodded politely and then looked at Max and we sprinted away through the woods where we had come. We got about halfway from the clearing to the beach when a giant grey wolf jumped out of nowhere and grabbed me by the arm in its mouth and then tossed me to the ground, knocking Max aside like she was nothing. "U and A!" I shouted at her as I phased, standing up and squaring up to Leah. Max leaped into the air without hesitation and flew off in the direction of the hotel.

Leah snarled at me, and I growled at her, low in my throat, sounding terrifying. She lunged at me, and caught my shoulder with her claws as I dodged my head to one side. I bit the side of her neck, tasting the blood before I realized I had broken the skin. She yelped in pain and dug her claws into my side, tearing skin and causing me to bleed on my snow-white fur. I dropped her neck and slammed my full weight against her, knocking her to the ground with me. We rolled around and clawed at each other, not landing any final marks, our jaws snapping. She landed on top of me, and raked her claws over my neck. I snarled, pushing off of the ground and knocking myself into her chest and we careened backwards, landing again on the forest floor. I stood atop her, breathing heavily, and held my teeth over her neck, ready to rip her throat out.

Then I stopped. I looked down at her, and she looked back, knowing she had been beaten. I snarled and got off of her, wandering a few paces away. It was then that I noticed the rest of the pack was there. I sized them up, waiting for another attack, but none came. Leah stayed where she was. Jacob came forward, his huge russet frame leaping gracefully over a large tree root. His huge dark eyes bored into my own, and I felt heat crackle around me.

_Are you okay?_ I heard in my mind. It was Jacob's voice. I blinked and staggered back as all of their voices started to flow into my mind.

_Told you she'd win—_

_Never seen anyone fight like that—_

_Beautiful coat—_

_So much blood—_

It all ran together, and my head swam with all of what I heard. I shook my head several times to clear it, disoriented with the loudness that was there. _STOP! _I screamed. _SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! What's going on? Quit it! I want you all out of my head! STOP IT!_

_It's okay, you've just joined our pack. You beat the alpha female._ I thought it was Sam's voice.

_WHAT! But I didn't want to join the pack! I didn't join on purpose!_

_Well, you did. _Jacob said. _Now, are you okay? You're bleeding pretty bad and—LEAH!_

Leah jumped from her position on the ground and pinned me, clawing at my throat. Jacob jumped over me, pulling her off and knocked her back to the ground. The other members of the pack cheered in my head. I scratched at my face, desperately trying to get them out.

_Leah, stop. _Sam said, in a voice that made him unmistakably the Alpha. _You are done. You will not fight with Arte—Aiva anymore._

I growled. Now they knew my name. I swore multiple times in my head over and over. Jacob looked at me and I looked from him to the faces all around the pack, which had circled me. They seemed to swirl more and more the longer I looked at them and the voices seemed louder and louder until I stopped on Jacob's face and all the voices faded into nothing as the black dots in the corners of my vision claimed me.

**A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNN! The suspense was killing us all, I know. On an even worse note, my chainsaw broke! :'( Yes, I'm crying too. But at least I didn't need to use it anyway. Review?**


	16. Eat Your Heart Out

**A/N: So I'm writing on this again. Twice in the same year, that has to be a record, right? Right. I is happy to do it too! Teehee, bad grammar. YAY ON TO STORY!**

**Chapter Sixteen: Eat Your Heart Out**

**Aiva POV**

Eventually I woke up, of course. I had expected to be in wolf form out in the forest somewhere, but instead found myself in human form laying under a blanket on a couch in a small living room. I panicked and stood up, ready to bolt out the door, then realized I had a very serious predicament. I yanked the blanket back around myself, covering my body as with a strapless dress. What the—?

Then it all started coming back to me. I looked around for any sign of anyone, or any sign that someone had been decent enough to bring me something to clothe myself with. Jacob came into the room, and stopped abruptly when I took a fighting stance.

He held his hands up in a surrendering motion, a shirt and what looked like a pair of sweat pants in one hand. "Here, I found these for you. Sorry, we don't have any women's underwear around here." He tossed the clothing onto the couch, and I noticed a pair of boxers were included. Joy.

"Where am I? How did you all get into my head? Where is Katie?" I asked, dropping my stance but remaining tense as I noticed the voices in my head were gone.

"You're at my house. We decided to take you here after you fainted. We thought it would be a safe place for you to recover." At my blank look, he continued, "You lost a lot of blood from your fight with Leah. She's being punished for it. We want to take you to a doctor, the cuts look infected."

"No doctors," I said immediately. "They're bound to notice some things." I flapped my wings a little by way of example.

"Trust me, this one would be able to take it in stride. He's a vampire," Jacob said, sitting down.

"I want nothing to do with the Cullens," I said vehemently. "And even then, I don't want them knowing about me."

"But look at them," Jacob said, gesturing to my side. "They're_ still_ bleeding, and it's been three days."

"Three days? You're kidding!" I swore angrily, and then looked at my side and swore again. "God, why me?" I muttered to myself. Then it occurred to me that he hadn't answered any of my other questions. "Where's Katie?"

"You mean Max?" Jacob asked. I glared. "Hey, don't blame me. You thought it. She's probably gone back to the flock." I put my head into my hand, kicking myself. How much did they know now? "We'd go get them for you, but we don't know where they are. We've got some people tracking them."

My head jerked up. "Well, quit it!" I growled. "Leave them alone. Just because you've dragged me into your little pack doesn't mean you need to drag them too!"

"We're looking for them for your benefit. I mean, we thought you'd want to see them once you got up," he said.

I ran my hand roughly through my hair. "How did I even get here?" I asked, changing the subject abruptly.

Jacob blinked but didn't miss a beat in answering, "I carried you here."

I looked at him and then felt my cheeks heat at the thought of a very shirtless, good-looking, strong werewolf carrying a very weak, dirty, and very _naked _me. But I didn't miss a beat either. "Well, I suppose I should thank you. For, ya know, letting me stay here all this time. Do you have a phone? I want to call Max."

He gestured to the kitchen. "In there. And you can change in my room or the bathroom, whichever you prefer. I'm going outside a minute so I can tell the others you're awake and to quit searching."

I nodded and padded my way into the kitchen, looking around. It was a small place, but quaint and kind of cute in its own way. I could only imagine what it would be like to grow up like this. I'd come from an upper middle-class family. I'd had a large, nice house when I was still normal. Don't get me wrong though; I liked this place. It really felt like a home. I would have loved to have lived here with a husband and a couple kids…

I shook my head to clear the nonsensical daydreams. I picked up the phone and dialed the Hotel's number, then had Eric connect my call to Max's room. She picked up right away.

"Aiva! Where are you? What's happened?" she asked, cutting straight to the point.

"I'm at Jacob's house. Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm going to have to go see a doctor though… Leah took a good chunk out of me. They're going to take me to see Dr. Cullen. He's a vampire, but apparently a very excellent doctor."

"I don't trust it. What if it's a trap?" she asked, already sounding defensive.

"Well, I need to see somebody. They're still bleeding after three days. On top of that, it may give me a chance to learn more about what's going on."

"Makes sense," she said. "Well, do you want someone to go with you, or—"

"No. I'll be fine," I said, cutting her off. "I don't want anyone else coming into the vampire house with me. Keep everyone safe a few more hours, I'll be home soon."

"Okay. You keep yourself safe, too," she said and then disconnected.

I hung up the phone and walked into Jacob's bedroom, since it was closer than the bathroom. I didn't really look around here. It wasn't my place to snoop in his bedroom. I pulled on the boxers, almost finding it funny, and then the sweats. I was standing shirtless when I heard a knock at the door. "Aiva?" Jacob's voice called nervously.

I pulled the shirt on quickly and then opened the door. "Sorry. Long phone conversation," I said, looking to get passed him and out of his bedroom. He gave me a long look, searching my eyes in a way that made me uncomfortable. I had just become fully clothed, but under his gaze, I felt naked again. I looked up at him, refusing to break eye contact first.

"You know, you're really easy on the eyes," he said finally, breaking eye contact as he scratched the back of his head.

"Thanks," I said, straight-faced, though the complement made me feel sort of giddy on the inside. I shut that down, still unsure whether I trusted these people. But when I looked back at him, it was extremely hard to notice that he was very, _very_ easy on the eyes himself. I shook my head, irritated with myself. "So, when are we going to see Dr. Cullen?" I asked, finding it a safer topic than my eyes or his eyes or any of our body parts at all.

"We can stop by any time today," he said, seeming to clear his head, too. He was back to his friendly, but still semi-business-y, air.

"Who is 'we'?" I asked, half afraid of the answer.

"You and I. Seth wanted to go, but I think he was worried you'd get claustrophobic with too many people there." Jacob finally moved out of the way and I walked past him, back out into the small living room.

I nodded at his words and then glanced back at him. "Well, I'm ready when you are. Anything that gets me back to my flock sooner."

He smiled. "Well, in that case… Do you care to ride a motorcycle?"

"Love them," I said, smiling. Then my smile faded. "Can't drive one though."

"That's why I said 'ride'. See, I only have one, and it's mine. You could ride on the back." I nodded, walking out of the house right then, oblivious to the drizzle. Jacob followed quickly, running up to his motorcycle and then handing me his helmet. I took it and got on the bike behind him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and he shot off. I felt a grin spread across my face, despite myself. There was something just so… freeing about motorcycles. I loved them.

Jacob made the drive, and then once we reached what I assumed to be the Cullen household, I almost literally jumped off the bike. I made to hand my helmet to Jacob, but I just couldn't get the strap to unfasten. Jacob got off the bike as well, and, noticing my difficulty, said, "Here, let me help." His fingers gently grazed my throat as he worked the strap unfastened. Then he took it off my head for me, and placed it on one of the handlebars. Then he smiled at me, a true smile, no bitterness or tenseness or anything.

I nodded, giving him a dry one in return. "Thanks, Jacob."

He nodded in return, and then led the way up the steps to the Cullens' front door. Edward opened the door before we got the chance to knock, and I resisted the urge to hold my breath as he smiled a tight smile at us. "Jacob, Aiva," he said, frowning at me. I narrowed my eyes at him and wrinkled my nose as more of the smell hit me.

"Edward," I said tightly.

"We need to see Carlisle," Jacob told him, resting a hand protectively on my shoulder. I shrugged him off without taking my eyes off of Edward. He smirked at my reaction to Jacob and then led us into the house. I followed behind Jacob, memorizing exit routes as we went. One entire wall was made of glass, so that was always a fun option if I needed it.

"Carlisle, they're here," Edward said in a normal speaking voice as he walked to the dining room, where Alice, a blond girl, and a really muscular guy were talking. I resisted the urge to both puke and run away.

"God, they stink," I muttered quietly to Jacob. He smirked and nodded.

"Hi, Blondie," he said to the blond girl, and she glared.

"Mutt," she said in acknowledgement. Then she nodded at me. "Mutt's friend."

I glared back at her. "Barbie." This made Jacob smile and the muscular guy laugh.

"Well, she must certainly fit in, huh, Jacob?" he asked, smiling broadly, earning him a look from the blond girl. "Chill, Rose, I'm just trying to be polite," he said, looking at her innocently. Another woman walked in, with Bella on her heels.

"Hello," she said to Jacob and me. She looked older than the other girls, like maybe in her twenties. An older guy came in behind her, also appearing to be in his twenties, and a blond haired guy came in with him.

The older guy came in and smiled calmly. "Hello, I'm Carlisle Cullen," he said, extending his hand for me to shake. I did so, cautiously. "I see the whole family's here. This is Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, my wife, Esme, and I'm sure you know Alice, Edward, and Bella from school. They've told us all so much about you," he said, smiling again.

"That's interesting, considering they've never spoken to me," I said conversationally, my eyes sweeping the room again, for an out. "I wasn't informed there were this many of you," I added, shooting a look at Jacob. He shrugged in a way that seemed to say, 'sorry, forgot.' I rolled my eyes.

"I suppose you've figured it out by now, Elaine's not my real name. It's Aiva," I said politely to Carlisle.

"Jacob said you needed to see me? Something about some wounds on your side?" he prompted.

"And her arm, and shoulder, and neck," Jacob said, gesturing to me. I glanced at my arm and noticed how bad the wounds really were. Hmm. I thought they would've healed by now. Maybe it was because All my healing energy was focused on my side and neck. It made sense.

"Well, a little beat up, aren't you?" he said. "Come, I'll take care of you in the study." I looked at Jacob, nervous to leave him with these vampires.

"Are you okay here? With them?" I asked, wondering how on earth he could be.

"Aw, the little girl protects you?" Rosalie asked. "How cute."

"Shut it, Barbie," I snapped, irritated.

Jacob nodded to me. "If you're okay alone," he said.

"That," I said, "has yet to be determined."

"Then I'll go with you," he said. "Better than hanging out here with Blondie," he added. Carlisle led us to his study and I was awed with how many books he had. I brushed my fingers lightly over an old one.

"These are beautiful," I said, still in awe.

"Thank you. If you will, remove your shirt so I can see," he asked professionally, which admittedly made me feel better. I was very self-conscious. It occurred to me that I wasn't wearing a bra, and Jacob was in the room.

"Um, Jacob? Could you possibly… turn around? Or just stand behind me?" I felt myself blushing a little as he did both. And if I wasn't mistaken, he had been blushing too. I pulled Jacob's shirt off over my head and sat there with my wings folded tightly in.

"I know about your wings, by the way, so there's no use tensing to hide them," Carlisle said. I sighed and relaxed them, slightly frustrated with how everyone seemed to know everything about me now. They flowed out around me, looking quite beautiful if I wanted to say so myself. My wings were my vanity point. Not that I had some freaky hangup about grooming them, but they were the part of me that I found most beautiful. Well, the only part of me that I found beautiful.

"Is it alright if I get Jacob to help me with some of this? There's more work than I thought there would be. He'll just need to hold some gauze or hold the skin still as I stitch it," Carlisle said, pulling out some medical supplies. I glanced at my bare chest and then felt my cheeks heat again. Finally, I nodded. "Jacob, would you please come hold the rag while I disinfect the cuts?" Carlisle asked, working on my side first. "Do you want some pain killer?" he asked. I shook my head no as Jacob made his way over, respectfully avoiding eye contact with any part of me besides the cuts. His fingers were warm against my skin and it gave me goose bumps after Carlisle's frigid hands. Carlisle sprayed the disinfectant directly into the cuts on my side. I ignored the pain as bubbles fizzled the infection out. He flushed it a few more times, and then finally started on the stitches. Jacob very gently held my skin how Carlisle asked him to, and then helped to tape gauze on after Carlisle was done.

As they moved to work on my arm, Jacob asked, "So, does it not bother you? All of her blood like this?"

"Forgive my honesty, but you two smell so badly that I'd never want to take a bite out of either of you. And that's a promise," he smiled, hiding his fangs from us.

I found myself smiling back, despite the situation. I think if I ever had to pick a vampire to like, I'd pick Carlisle Cullen. "Don't worry, I prefer honesty," I said, looking at my arm. "These are a little small for stitches, don't you think?" I added.

Carlisle nodded. "That's why we're just disinfecting and dressing them. It won't take long," he said. "Jacob would you—? Thank you," Carlisle said as Jacob held my wrist out and the cloth under me. Carlisle flushed the wounds repetitively and then had Jacob help with the gauze. "Will you lay down so we can do your neck?" Carlisle asked, quickly clearing some books off of a table. Jacob helped me lay down since I didn't want to pop the fresh stitches. The entire time, Jacob was a true gentleman and only looked at my body when required to look at the cuts. He never gawked at my chest or did anything to make me uncomfortable. Which almost unnerved me more than being in a house of vampires.

"Well, how bad are they?" I asked, feeling the scabs on my neck threatening to come open.

"Not as bad as the ones on your side," Carlisle said. Then his phone rang. "I'm sorry. Jacob, could you start the disinfecting? I need to take this call outside."

He left and I looked up at Jacob, nervous to be alone with him, but he was all business as he arranged the rag to where it would catch the excess and began to flush the disinfectant into my cuts, which did break the scabs and make me bleed.

"Jacob?" I asked softly, trying not to move too much.

"Yes, Aiva?" he replied, equally soft, still flushing my neck.

"Is this awkward for you?" I asked, holding a rag as it started to slip.

"Yeah, but it's okay. It's worth it," he said, gently patting the wounds dry. He sat next to me, looking at the floor.

"Why is it so awkward? I mean, I know why it's awkward for me, but you seem fine with it," I said, curious.

"Well, it's just awkward," he replied, picking at a thread on his jeans. "I mean, I keep looking at your wings, but that feels almost as rude as looking at your chest. So I feel awkward looking at the floor and even more awkward if I look at you at all."

I felt myself smile. "You're a good guy, Jacob." Soon after, Carlisle returned and finished my neck, deciding against stitches and just dressing the wounds again. Jacob politely turned back around as I put the barrowed shirt on and we left on his motorcycle soon thereafter.

Jacob pulled up to a diner in Forks and stopped, again helping me with the helmet. "Do you want something to eat? You must be starving after three days of not eating."

Though I knew I shouldn't, and I knew I needed to get back to the flock, I looked up at him and said, "I'm starving."

He smiled and held the door open for me, a sweet gesture that didn't go unnoticed. "Order what you like, as much as you like," Jacob said, sitting down in a booth across from me. "I'm paying." I smirked as I looked at the menu, thinking that Jacob would probably regret that last statement. When the waitress came over, Jacob ordered first. "I'd like two ribeyes, medium, and three cheeseburgers. And a coke."

"Feeding a crowd?" the waitress asked.

"No, ma'am, just hungry." Jacob smiled in a way that was very charming, I couldn't help but notice.

The waitress shook her head, and turned to me. "What'll it be, miss?"

"I'd like what Jacob ordered, but add bacon to the cheeseburgers, and an extra order of fries. And instead of a coke, make it a chocolate milkshake." I looked up from the menu at her astounded face. Jacob looked equally astounded.

The waitress shook her head and walked away, muttering something about how we'll use up half the to-go boxes tonight. Jacob looked at me. "You're seriously going to eat all that?"

"If it's not horrible food," I said, sipping from one of the waters they had brought us when we first came in. Jacob shook his head.

"I don't believe you. There's no way you can eat more than me."

"Oh yeah? Watch me," I said, smirking. We waited about thirty minutes before they brought out our food. I thanked the bewildered waitress and then looked back to Jacob. We both started eating, and it was great. It was the kind of food you _wanted_ to put into your body. I finished my burgers and fries and one of my steaks when Bella Swan and the police chief came in. Jacob didn't see them, and they sat in a table behind him, out of earshot for a human. Bella looked at him, looking pained.

"So Jacob, why does that Bella girl hang around the Cullens?" I asked, curious. "I mean, do they like…" I slurped my milkshake to finish my statement.

"No," Jacob said vehemently. "She's engaged to one of them. Edward. It's sick," he looked up at me from his half-finished burger. "I wanted to be with her. I offered. I dated her when that creep went away. She led me on. God, I hate them," he growled. That kind of anger and underlying hurt didn't look right on his face.

"I'm sorry, Jacob. Obviously she didn't know what she was missing," I said soothingly.

"But that's the thing!" he said, still angry. "She did know. But she still picked that monster over me. How could she do that?"

"Because she was stupid," I said, nibbling on a fry. "Any girl would be stupid not to be with you if she had the chance." And I meant it. Jacob was a great guy. He was respectful, sweet, fun to be around, and just in general a really good guy.

This made Jacob smile a little. "If you say so," he said.

"I do," I said as I finished the last of my food.

"Good lord!" Jacob looked at the empty plates in front of me. "You really did eat all that!"

"I know. I told you I was going to," I said, sipping on my milkshake.

"I thought you were kidding. I don't even want the last of this cheeseburger," he said. He pushed the plate with it on it away from himself.

"So you're not going to eat that?" I asked. He shook his head. I picked it up and finished it for him. Then I finished my milkshake and sat back, smiling a very satisfied smile. "That was great."

Jacob looked at me. "Do you like horror movies, too?" he asked.

"I like to laugh at them. You know, it's just unrealistic for blood to shoot thirty feet in the air," I said.

Jacob leaned over the table. "Marry me," he said.

I laughed and shook my head. "Sorry, I'm not the legal age."

"Damn. Well, we'll just have to wait then," he said. "I'm not either. I'm seventeen."

"You look older," I informed him. "I'm fifteen."

"You look older. I would've guessed eighteen or nineteen," he said.

"Well, I'm posing as eighteen," I said. It was a good thing we had been keeping our voices low so no one else heard. "I'm a senior at Forks High."

"I'd buy that. Is it harder with the classes being older than you?" he asked.

"No, not at all. I'm really smart, so the classes being hard doesn't bother me. Mostly I miss being able to take the classes that I really wanted to take. I'm really into the science classes," I said.

"Why science?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know. I just think it's really interesting. Especially the biology part. That part amazes me," I said. "But now I sound like a dork, so I'm going to stop talking."

"That's just as well. I should probably be letting you get home anyway. Are you sure you don't want a ride?" he asked.

I sighed. "Actually, now that you mention it, I kind of think I want you to meet my family," I said.

"I'd be happy to," he said, sounding excited.

I smiled. "Okay then, let's go." We walked out the door together, and he didn't spare Bella a glance. She looked hurt, and I couldn't help but think, _Eat your heart out, stupid girl_.

I got on the bike with Jacob and he took me to the hotel, at my direction. We pulled up, and I prayed everyone was home. I glanced up at the girls' balcony and saw Nudge, so I smiled and led Jacob into our hotel.

**A/N: So, my chainsaw is STILL broken! I know, I'm still crying too. :'( Review? Maybe? Pwetty pwease? If you wuv me and mah stowy? If not, you know, that's chill too. XD Until next time, my dears!**


	17. Meeting the Parents Or Whatever

**A/N: You all know the drill by now, I'm sure. I'm lazy. Don't bother suing me because I don't have any money. Love my story. Read it. Love it. Enjoy it!**

**Chapter Seventeen: Meet the Parents…Or Whatever.**

**Nudge POV**

I was sitting outside painting my toenails an adorable shade of bubblegum pink that Aiva had picked up at the store for me even though it had made Max irritated because it was impractical to paint your nails since we lived on the run and all, but Aiva had argued with her, saying that since we were staying here permanently for the time being that I "should be allowed to have such trivial things because who knew if I'd ever get the opportunity to again." Well, Max hadn't been happy about it, but she'd eventually gotten over it, so I was painting my toenails outside on the balcony since the smell bothered everyone else when I saw Aiva get off of a motorcycle with a very cute, muscular, tall Native American guy. He looked like he was probably twenty or older, which was weird for a lot of reasons because Aiva was with him, she'd showed him where we were, she was bringing him inside, and he was smiling like he maybe might like her, which would've been okay, except that he was probably like twenty and Aiva was fifteen and that was just weird, except Aiva looked older, so maybe he thought she was older, which would be okay. Aiva looked up at the balconies and saw me, so I waved at her, glad she was okay because we hadn't seen her in like three days, but we knew she was okay because she had called Max earlier and told her that she was okay and so I wasn't all that worried anymore. She winked at me and brought that cute hunk of old guy inside the hotel with her, I assumed to bring him to meet us. As soon as she disappeared from my view, I ran inside the room, nearly knocking over Max who had been on her way out.

"Max! Max, Aiva brought a boy home! Oh my gosh, Max, he is _so_ cute! He's got all these muscles and he was driving a motorcycle and Aiva was riding with him and it was really cute looking, you know, like something you would see in a really cute romance movie, but like one for teenagers, not old people, and I think she's bringing him up to meet us, which is cool, because she was smiling at him and everything, and you know how Aiva is a lot like Fang and they never smile, so when one of them smiles, it's really precious, and—Max, why is she bringing him here?" I asked, cutting myself off finally. I really needed to start watching that.

"I don't know, Nudge. Maybe he was just walking her in," she added, looking doubtful. I found that hard to believe because why would she let him do that? She wasn't the type that let guys take her home and walk her in and everything; she usually sent them packing at their first few words to her.

"That's strange, but maybe you're right, I mean she is a pretty girl. Guys like to walk pretty girls to their houses, right?" I asked, working hard to keep what I said to a minimum.

"I wouldn't know. I guess so," she said. She knocked on the wall and soon the boys and other girls were in our room. No sooner had they shut the door and Iggy asked what was up than a knock sounded on our door again. Fang walked over to open it.

**Fang POV**

I pulled open the door and filled the doorway, effectively placing myself between my family and any threat that may be waiting in the hallway. It proved to be a waste of effort, though, as I scanned over the only people in the hall, Aiva and some smiling guy.

"Hello, Fang," Aiva said, smiling at me. I half-smiled back, glad to see her. Though I'd never admit it to anyone, I had been worried about her. I didn't care about her the way I cared about my flock, but I did care about her in a way that was very similar, if less strong. "Can we come in? I assume Nudge had you all get together."

I moved aside, eyeing the guy as he walked by. Not armed. Strong, but between all of us we could have him. Aiva seemed to trust him. That was a good sign. No threat. Alyanna and Karianne hugged Aiva right away, glad to see that she was okay. After them, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel took their turns. She said hi to Iggy and Max, then gestured to the guy with her.

"Everyone, this is Jacob Black. He's a member of the Quileute Tribe, a werewolf like me. Well, without the wings obviously. Jacob, this is my family. You know Max, but then there's Karianne, Alyanna, Fang, Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, and Angel," Aiva said, gesturing to all of us in turn. "We're kind of two flocks that combined."

"Nice to meet all of you," the guy—Jacob—said.

"It's really great to meet you, too Jacob! I saw you pull up with Aiva. Is that your motorcycle down there? Like, is it really yours? Cuz if it is, that's really cool. Do you like it? I like it, the paint job is really nice. But anyway, so I saw you guys pull up and I was confused because Aiva doesn't really let people know who we are and stuff I thought you might just be someone who was taking her home cuz she's a pretty girl. Or, well I think she's pretty. Do you think she's pretty? Because if you do, she isn't dating anyone, even though I think that maybe she should because there's plenty of cute guys available out there, you know, like it's not like she's gotta marry any of them just because she would date one, you know? Like, I mean really…" Nudge rambled before Iggy slammed his hand over her mouth.

"The point she was trying to make is that it's nice to meet you," Angel said sweetly, smiling angelically up at him. He smiled back, seeming kind of taken aback by the rambling.

Iggy removed his hand from Nudge's face and wound his fingers around Karianne's. "So, if you don't mine my asking, what are you here?" he asked.

"Well, he was taking me home," Aiva said. "And he's going to explain everything to me about what happened the other night. I figured if Max and Fang wanted to listen, they can. Or anyone really, I suppose."

"Well, that sounds good. Max wouldn't tell us what happened," Gazzy complained. I smirked. He was a cute kid, he just seemed to always think he was a lot bigger than he was.

"Well, uh, I don't know what you want to know," Jacob said nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't worry, I have a lot of questions you can answer," Aiva answered, smirking to match mine. That still kind of caught me off guard. No one else really could pull off a Fang Smirk. Well, none of my original flock, that is.

"Okay then," he said, smiling at her. He seemed really friendly. Possibly too friendly?

"Alright then. Let's go over here," Max said, gesturing to the main part of the hotel suite. She, Iggy, Karianne and I all sat on a couch. Angel sat on Max's lap and Nudge on Alyanna's lap in a chair. Gazzy sat on the floor leaning against Max's and my legs. Aiva sat on the floor next to Jacob, leaning against the TV stand.

"Well, what do you want to know first?" Jacob asked, seeming at a loss for words.

"What happened the day Aiva got hurt?" Gazzy asked, excited at the thought of Aiva kicking werewolf ass.

Aiva sighed, looking as though she expected that. "Well, um, we have a pack, right? There's more than one of us, there's a pack. It started out small, but since the Cullens are around so much, it's been growing."

"Why is that?" Max asked. "What do the Cullens have to do with you?"

"Well, they're vampires. We—that is, my pack and I—exist as wolves strictly to protect our people from the Cold Ones, as we call them. They're… well, the majority of them feed off of humans, which is why we exist. We protect our people from them. The Cullens don't kill people, though. They feed off of animals, which is still unnatural and wrong, but, well, a long time ago, when their group was smaller, they lived here before. They signed a treaty with my ancestors that if they didn't come to our lands and didn't bite a human, we would let them live here. The only problem is, now that they're back, they've set us in motion again. Our genes are programmed to respond to them, activate the power to change. So there's quite a few of us now."

Aiva frowned, soaking this in. "So, why would I have went through this already? I've never been in contact with vampires before."

I sent a thought to Angel who sent it to everyone else, Aiva included. _The School._

Aiva showed no signs of this reaching her. "Never mind. That's not important. But, please, explained what happened that night, because I'm still not entirely clear on it myself."

"Well, since Leah's the Alpha female… I assume you're all familiar with the concept of Alpha and Omega within a pack, and the ways in which that functions?" he asked. Max, Aiva, and I nodded, but the others shook their heads. "Okay, well, the way it works is, there's an Alpha male and an Alpha female. The male is the leader of the pack, and anything he says goes. In our pack because of the magic, you can't resist what he says. If he summons the power of the Alpha, you're physically forced to do as he says. Sam—that's our Alpha—avoids it as much as possible, but sometimes, well, sometimes it's unavoidable. Anyway, the Alpha male can be challenged in a fight, or he can give up the title, if he so chooses, to another male, who then becomes the Alpha. There's also a Beta, who's second if the Alpha can't perform the duties, but that's not happened yet."

"Who's that?" Aiva asked curiously.

"Well, that's me, but that's not really important," he said, brushing it off. "The point is, it's the same for the Alpha female. She's in charge of the females in the pack. Up until the other night, there was only one female in our pack, Leah. But since you came along, instinctually, she felt threatened by you because you're also a strong female. Wanting to mark her territory and assert her status, regardless of if you joined or not, she attacked you, which, I'd like to point out, is unbecoming of our pack, because she acted off of instinct though most of us do choose to use higher reasoning. So anyway, when she attacked you, it was an assertion of her title. When you responded, even though I assume you only did for self-defense, it became a challenge of her status. If you had lost, you wouldn't have been allowed in the pack, since I assume she would have barred you from it. But since you won, you took her role and power. Now you're the Alpha female, and she's the Omega, or least powerful."

We all looked at his explanation, digesting it.

"So, wait. She just joined and she's already got power?" Gazzy asked.

"Well, she's not the most powerful. Sam still is, and if he gives her a direct order as Alpha male, she can't go against it. But as far as power over Leah? Yeah, she pretty much owns her annoying hide, and it's about time somebody put her in her place, too, so thank you for finally doing that, by the way," Jacob said, smiling at Aiva. She half smiled back, much in the way that I do.

"So, is there any way out of it? I mean, I didn't intend to join," she said.

"We haven't found a way out of it, but then, none of us have wanted out," Jacob answered.

"So, what does this mean, for the rest of us?" Max asked, in her no nonsense voice.

"Well, it means that since Aiva's an official member of our pack, and you're her family, the eight of you are honorary members of our tribe. We will protect you the same way we protect our true tribe," Jacob answered. "I know you guys probably don't need it, just based off of what I've seen of you, but we offer it, anyway. Really, can we do any damage to you?" he asked, looking around at all of us, stopping at Aiva. The look in his eyes as he looked at her was almost… almost like worship. Devotion, maybe. Something inside of me twisted at that.

"You might," I said, speaking for the first time in a while. Everyone looked at me. The kids looked shocked, Iggy thoughtful, Karianne and Alyanna disbelieving, Aiva defensive, and Max met my eyes with an understanding. Wordlessly, we discussed the matter, and she decided that she agreed. Jacob looked taken aback for a second, then smiled, seeming to take no offence.

"Not if all of you can fight like Aiva. We'd stand no chance," he said, nudging her elbow. And, so help me God, she _blushed_ a little bit.

"Whatever, Jacob," she said, rolling her eyes, the blush gone as quickly as it had come. But I had seen it.

"So anyway, is it okay if you guys tell me a little about you? I mean, I don't need your life stories or anything, but just some general information? Where you're from, any enemies you have?" Jacob asked.

I glanced at Max, again, silently communicating. After a slight argument, which I lost, she said, "Well, yeah, we can tell you a little bit. But first, one more question. What's this about telepathy?" she asked, eyeing Aiva.

"Something that comes from being a part of our pack," Jacob answered. "We get psychically linked to each other, so we can communicate while we're in wolf form. It doesn't happen while we're human, but once we've phased, our minds are connected. So far as we can find, it doesn't wear off no matter how far you get from each other. I'd know. I tried," he said. I filed that away for later. Abandonment wasn't a good quality, even if I was being a little bit hypocritical considering I'd left Max a couple months back. Of course, I'd come back, which apparently Jacob had also done, but I didn't want to dwell on things we had in common.

"So that's why it's gone today," Aiva said, understanding dawning. "The voices left when I changed back."

"Right," he said. "The voices were different pack members' thoughts. When you phase again, they'll come back, and you can communicate with us. The only downside to it is that you can't hide anything. If you think about it, we know about it. It's not exactly ideal for secret keeping, but pretty convenient if you want to know who really did eat the last muffin," he said, trying to make some sort of humor out of something that clearly bothered him. It would bother me, too. Like having ten Angels running around, probing at your mind all the time. Angel shot me a look, and I sent a thought her way to tell her that I meant nothing mean by my previous thoughts, just that it would be very inconvenient. She smiled and went back to listening to Jacob.

"So, there's no way to really turn that off, either, is there?" Aiva asked. At Jacob's head shake, she sighed. "Thought not. Well, anyway, what are your questions for us?"

"Where'd you guys come from? The wings are really cool, by the way," he said.

"We came from a mad science lab called the School. It's got a lot of sick scientists there that take normal people and do sick experiments on them, like the wings for instance, or putting organs on the outside of the body, or trying to make cat people. It's really twisted. My flock grew up in dog crates in the School, until about five years ago. That's me, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel, anyway. Avia, Kari, and Aly had it a little bit different. They were taken just a couple months ago, from being normal and having a life, to the School, where they had wings grafted to their backs, and Aiva had that whole wolf gene stimulated," Max answered. Jacob looked shocked.

"They kidnap people and do that?" he asked.

"Yeah. And that's the nice part. Once they do that, they do all sorts of sick tests to see how 'successful' you are. Running on a treadmill till you collapse, sitting in a room where they make it hot or cold until you pass out, sticking different chemicals into you to see how you react… essentially torture," Aiva added, head held high, like if she ever got stuck there again she'd face it bravely. I know I probably looked the same. It really was weird having a twin show up out of nowhere.

"Oh, god," Jacob said, looking at us all again, pity in his eyes, and as they fell back on Aiva, an intense protectiveness flowed.

"Don't be sorry for us," Angel said sweetly, probably reading his thoughts. "We're survivors. It made us strong."

"Yeah, and if it hadn't been that way, none of us ever would have met," Nudge added.

"And we wouldn't have all our cool powers," Gazzy added.

"And we wouldn't know how to make bombs," Iggy added, grinning evilly, much to Max's dismay.

"And we wouldn't have ever been able to fly. Lots of people dream of that, you know," Max added, smiling at her kids.

"I never would've found Iggy," Karianne said, blushing.

"I would always be boring," Alyanna said. Then, to the others' blank looks, she said, "Well, you guys took all the good ones!"

They all sort of looked at me and Aiva. She looked at me, and I looked at her. We smirked simultaneously. "We probably wouldn't be such snappy dressers," she said.

"And I probably wouldn't be able to play such a mean harmonica," I added. To this, everyone but Jacob laughed, sharing in the joke. Aiva and I even smiled.

"Okay, well, are there any enemies we should know about?" Jacob asked, once we had all gone back to being serious.

"Just the Cullens that don't like us, any other vampire wishing to kill us, the crazy mutants and robots the School sends after us occasionally, and, of course, the bullies at school," Nudge said, ticking them off on her fingers, but keeping the statement short.

"Oh. Is that all?" Jacob asked. "No big deal. If any of that comes around, we'd be happy to help you guys with it, any way we could. You know how to get in touch with us," he said, smiling at Aiva.

She nodded, half smiling back, to my irritation. "Well, you should probably be getting home," she said, "unless you'd like to stay for dinner. I'm sure no one would object to that," she added, glancing around. No one did, and most smiled or nodded in agreement.

"Um, sure, if you want me, I'll stay," he said, smiling and scratching the back of his head.

Aiva smiled back. "Great," she said.

After a wonderful meal prepared by Iggy, Jacob finally left. He gave Aiva his phone number, in case she wanted to get in touch without using the wolf mind link thing. I offered to walk him out. He seemed a little surprised but had the good sense to realize I wanted to talk away from the others. Aiva waved as we left and I walked Jacob downstairs to his motorcycle. Once there, I looked at him. "So what's your angle on Aiva?" I asked, leaning against the building with my hands in my pockets.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "She just joined our pack."

"Not the way you were looking at her," I said, eyes narrowed at him.

"Oh. That," he said, smiling awkwardly and scratching the back of his head. "I, well, think she's really interesting. Today, we were talking a little bit as we went to and from the doctor's and we got something to eat. We just had a fun time."

I raise one eyebrow, saying nothing.

"Okay, well, she's nice, and funny. Pretty," he added. "I don't know. What are you interrogating me for anyway?" he asked.

I take a step closer. "She's my twin sister. Apparently, the only blood relative I have. I don't know you, and I don't know your pack, but I know you like her. I could see it. Don't give me a reason to hurt you. It's not in my nature to be forgiving," I said coldly, that way that makes even Max think I look scary. Jacob held my gaze levelly, and for once, the good-natured, funny guy was gone, and he was all seriousness.

"You won't have to be," he said matter-of-factly and got on his motorcycle, slipped on his helmet, and rode off. I watched him go, then went back upstairs.

Aiva was moving her things into Max's room. "We decided that it didn't make sense for her to be keeping another room, when we have the bed space for her here," Max explained to me. I nodded and went to bed.

**A/N: So, I guess Fang has decided he's a little more protective of his twin than he thought, even if having one is a little creepy! How lovely! Anywho, I no longer own a chainsaw, so no worries about reviews. If you leave one, I'm happy, if not, well whatever. Until the next one, dears! :)**


	18. Photograph

**A/N: No sugar induced comas here! ;) Love you guys! By the way, if you're interested, and even if you aren't, you should check out my Code Lyoko fic, **_**Cosmopolitan**_**. 'Tis rather good, if I do say so myself. And I **_**do**_** say so myself, you know. Anyway, on to this chapter.**

**Chapter Eighteen: Photograph**

**Aiva POV**

The next day, we went back to school. Apparently my family had had the thought to tell the school that I'd had a nasty case of food poisoning. Dishonest, but effective. We dropped off Angel and Gazzy, then continued on to the high school. Nudge seemed really down, which bothered me, but any time we asked her about it, she replied that she was just tired. As we made our way throughout our classes during the day, the Cullens seemed more civil than they had been, no glares or wrinkled noses, and Alice even said hello to me when passing in the hall and told me she was glad I was better. It was strange to have them being nice to us, but I decided I didn't care. I still didn't like them. They still smelled bad. Most of all, they were still dangerous. Whether Jacob could tolerate them or not was beside the point.

Speaking of Jacob, I seemed to think of him a lot that day. Geometry and English were both easy classes, so I spent a good portion of my time thinking about questions I still had for him. During drama class it was hard to find time to think about him because I was a few days behind with learning my lines and had to do all of that, of course. Auditions were to be the next day. I rehearsed tirelessly and worked hard on my lines. By the end of class, Mrs. Di Angelo said she didn't doubt for a second that I would be ready by the next day. After this was lunch. We sat at the Cullens' old table, they sat at the one by the window. The vampires didn't eat. Bella did. Nudge was quiet at lunch again today, seeming much more down than she usually was. When she walked by, snickers would erupt. At glares tossed by Max, Fang, and I, they stopped, but Nudge didn't seem to notice. Her bubbly, chattering personality had fled, replaced by a quiet, introverted façade. After we finished lunch, she found a girl and walked quickly to her next class, not speaking to any of us.

"Nudge isn't doing well," I observed to Fang and Max as we went to bio.

"Yeah. She isn't really fitting in," Max said, seeming worried.

"I think it's a little worse than not fitting in," I told them. "I think she's being bullied, maybe even harassed. Last night, I was awake as she was sleeping, and I heard her having a nightmare. She kept telling some guy to stop calling her that. Then as I was reaching to wake her up, she said something about him getting his hands off her and woke up on her own. She told me it was fine, just a nightmare, but I'm worried about her."

"It could be that she was dreaming about a whitecoat," Max said softly, trying not to draw attention, as class was about to start.

"Maybe. Still, I think maybe you should talk to her about it. She listens to you," I said, gathering materials for today's dissection. I would be working with Fang and Max, since Reed had "left." I marveled at how that thought didn't seem to sting as much. "On a different note, what do you guys think of Jacob?" I asked as Max laid down the fetal pig we were supposed to cut up for science.

Fang stiffened, almost imperceptibly. Max noticed, as did I, and asked, "What's wrong with you?" Fang shrugged and moved on, helping me to hold the pig as I cut. "Okay," she said, fixing him with a look. They did that weird talking-without-talking thing, then Max answered my question. "I think he's nice. Seems like a good guy. Daisy seems to like him." I picked up on the double meaning. Angel hadn't found anything wrong with his thoughts. He didn't block her out like she had confessed Reed used to sometimes. "How do you feel about him?" Max asked me as I cut along the sternum, opening the tiny pig's thoracic cavity.

I shrugged, much in the way Fang had. "He's… nice. Very respectful of our space. No probing questions or anything," I added, still speaking in a hushed voice. Edward, Bella, and Alice kept looking back, as if checking to see that we weren't going to kill them. They had seemed nicer today, but that didn't mean that they trusted us. We certainly didn't trust them. I looked back to our pig. "He's fun to be around."

"Do you like him?" Fang asked, surprising me with the interest in his voice instead of the usual deadpan tone.

"Um, yeah, I guess. Like I said, he's nice. Really considerate, polite. We have things in common. I like him," I said, still working on cutting open the pig. Finally, I managed to finish opening the abdominal cavity, where the preservative chemicals seemed to have pooled. I dabbed them with some paper towels, getting the majority out. "Why the interest, Justin?" I asked Fang as I did this.

He shrugged, not really answering me. I wondered if this had anything to do with their discussion as he walked Jacob out, or if it was just that he didn't really trust my judgment. Before I could ask, It was time to pack up and get ready to leave.

The remainder of the day passed by pretty quickly. Choir found me with my audition songs memorized. Sociology gave me a reading assignment. Nudge was clearly miserable as she met up with us to walk out, and it made me sad to see her in such a state, but Max would talk to her. That afternoon, when we got back to the hotel, I found a rather curious item slid under the bottom of our door. It was a picture of Nudge, sitting in a class, viewed through a window. Written on the back in sloppy handwriting was the simple word 'Freshmeat.' I didn't show it to her, but instead waited until Nudge and Angel were out of the room before I showed it to Max.

"What do you think it means?" I asked her.

"I don't know. Could just be someone's idea of a prank. That Eric guy is kind of a creep," she said.

"I don't think it was him. Maybe the Cullens trying to scare us? Or just some moron playing pranks?" I asked, hoping it was something as simple as that.

"It couldn't be Itex. Not yet," she said. "It usually takes them longer to find us."

"Maybe Reed did get something through," I said, my heart stopping at the thought.

"What are you looking at?" Nudge asked, coming into the room. She pulled the paper from Max's hand before we had time to react. She stared at it, beginning to look scared. "Where did you get this?" She asked, her voice unrecognizable.

"We found it," I told her. "It was under the door."

"That's my algebra class," she said. "Who took it?"

"We don't know, honey," Max said, watching her expression. "Do you have any idea who it could've been? Anyone at school bothering you?" she asked, cleverly transitioning into the topic she needed to discuss with her. _Clever, Max. Well played_, I thought.

"No. No one bothers me. Even if they did, I can take care of it," she said, turning around and taking the picture with her. "I'm sure it's just someone stupid joking with us."

Once she was gone, Max and I exchanged looks. "That's unusual behavior for her, yes?" I asked, double checking.

"Very," she answered, watching as Nudge stuffed it into her bag, along with other wadded up pieces of paper.

"So something is bothering her."

"Seems like it," Max said, watching Nudge from the doorway.

"What are you going to do about it? You can't beat it out of her," I said, studying her as well.

"I'm going to find out from someone else who knows," Max said, turning to go down the hall. "I'm going to have a chat with Eric."

**A/N: I know it's short. I'm just lazy. This is really more of a fill chapter, because the next one has all the drama in it. But this is pretty dramatic, too, right? Nudge has a stalker. Scared, lovies?**


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